That was when the accident happened…

AUDIO RECORDING, PROFESSIONAL ACTOR

The bullying story that will be told began in elementary school, and was an act committed to gain popularity. Other children found it funny, which helped the desires to bully. I will change the name of anybody involved for confidentiality.

It began around grade five. He was a shy boy in our class. I will call him Greg. Greg wasn’t very athletic. He didn’t have any friends, and he focused hard on his studies. He was very socially awkward, and people would make him of him for his inability to do certain things on his awkwardness. I am ashamed to admit that I too made fun of this poor boy behind his back. Made people laugh with what I said, but it was no laughing matter. Greg faltered under these tauntings. He withdrew. He may have been depressed. He gained a friend or two over the years, but the bullying continued will into junior high. That was when the accident  happened… I don’t know the details. I know that it messed with his brain, and when he came back, he had almost completely lost his hearing. He still barely talked. Seemed like after that people began talking to him. Maybe they felt pity. Maybe guilty. But why had it taken something as terrible to make the bullies stop? Why was it “ok”” before? I wonder about that to this day.

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