Bullying And Harrassment Has Come A Long Way

When I roamed the halls of Berlin High School 25 years ago, things were so much different than they are today.

High-school aged kids are the same in a lot of ways but they have been forced to grow up faster by television and all kinds of new media.

Way back when, if we wanted to call someone, we would have to take a good minute to dial the rotary phone. Think back, dialing 8-2-8 anything on a rotary phone took a long time. And, of course, there was no Caller ID. So crank calling by hanging up was all the rage. Now with Caller ID, that phase of harassment has thankfully come to an end.

But with each generation comes new challenges.

When I was a freshmen at Berlin High School I was bullied. At that time it was not called bullying. It was shear intimidation by bigger, older students and it scared me every single day of my freshman year.

Let me share the story with you. How many of you remember the Fireman's Bazaar. It used to be held each summer near the American Legion Post, kind of where Stop & Shop is now.

Going into my freshmen year, I asked a female friend of mine to go to the Bazaar with me. It was a big date for a soon-to-be-freshman. So we went to the bazaar and had a great time...until two of her neighbors, older boys, pushed me from behind to the ground and threatened to beat the tar out of me if I didn't leave her alone. The rest of the night went by without incident but that didn't lower my heartbeat.

My freshman year at Berlin High was going great until the third term, when I switched from health to physical education. On my way to PE class the first day of third term, the same two boys ran up behind me and knocked me to the ground, busting my lip. They were older but we had gym at the same time and had to dress in the same locker room.

I didn't know what to do. How was I going to survive the second half of the year while these guys were trying to get me every day. Should I tell somebody? I mean, I played three sports so I could have told any of the coaches in the coaches’ office but would they think I was a weakling? So I told nobody and every day I tried to find a group of people to walk to the locker room with. Some days if I couldn't find a group, I wouldn't go down to the locker room. I would just wait upstairs in the gym or change in the media center.

The beatings ended when I grew big enough to stand up for myself. I'm not sure what I would have done if I didn't grow. I was a lucky one. I saw kids get picked on, nothing physically but verbally. Some of the educators were way ahead of their time when it came to bullying. I watched Al Pelligrinelli really get upset when he saw some mean-spirited behavior. It took a lot to get him upset and this kid knew he had done something really wrong.

So why tell this story? The recent claims of bullying at Berlin High School made me reflect on my experience. My experience is not something I had ever thought about but it came back to me when this claim was made. My memories of Berlin High School are nothing short of spectacular. I don't know what happened in this highly public bullying claim but I know there are two sides to every story.

Today's teenagers are faced with so many challenges. Facebook, twitter, I-Phones with video...it all seems too much. Some handle it so gracefully while others struggle.

In an ideal world, nobody ever gets bullied or harassed, but we don't live in an ideal world, quite the contrary, in fact. I felt encouraged after speaking to a few teachers and administrators about the steps they are taking to try to prevent these incidents.

I fear for my own children when they get older and hope we've done a good enough job as parents so that they can handle all of the challenges they will face.

I pray for their strength of character and I pray for those I don't know being bullied anywhere.

Good luck kids.