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Bullying One boy's experience

A group of kids in Judd's class bullied him. He was badgered repeatedly. "Kids said things like, 'Hey, how's it going Tubbo?' or 'Let's race. I bet you'll faint before you get to the finish line,' " Judd explains.

At first, Judd told no one. He thought it would eventually stop. He withdrew and grew depressed.

Judd's dad Bill knew something was wrong. One day, he persuaded Judd to open up. Bill explained that kids who tease often do so to make themselves feel better. He wanted Judd to understand that he was not the problem.

Judd and his dad talked every day after school. "I felt really safe when I was talking with my dad about these things," Judd says. "I was able to go through the day thinking, "I don't know what to do now, but I can go home and talk to my dad, and he will make me feel better and let me know what to do the next time it happens."

Eventually, the bullies could see they were no longer affecting Judd. So they left him alone. Judd met new friends through sports, and began to feel better about himself.

Part of being an adolescent means learning to handle relationships with people by expressing yourself. Judd's dad taught him how to respond to the bullies. "This doesn't mean we abandon children," says child psychiatrist Dr. Paula Rauch. "We help them learn. We guide them. We support them by talking with them, listening to them, encouraging them."

Judd says he stops bullying when he notices it. "When I see someone saying mean things to another person - bullying them - I have said, 'Hey, look. You shouldn't be doing this. I've gone through it before. I know what they feel."

Portions of interviews have been used with permission of Family Health Productions, Inc.

Next >> Learn the facts

Hear and read more stories about bullying, in Bullying: True Stories, Boys on Bullying, The Power of Girls: Inside and Out and Words Can Work: When Talking About Bullying.

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