I Was A Bully and The Girl I Tormented Committed Suicide
Q. Confessions of a Bully: I was a bully in school. I'm
not going to justify my behavior in any way. There are no words to
describe how monstrous I was. There was one particular kid, "Gina," whom
I bullied mercilessly. If I inflicted half as much physical assault in
my adulthood as I did to her as a teen, I would be locked up for a very
long time.
After I became a parent at 19, my daughter experienced some minor bullying. I saw how tormented she was and realized the things I inflicted on my classmates were way worse. I made it a mission to track down the people I hurt and apologize. Due to social media, thankfully it wasn't too difficult. Almost everybody I managed to contact responded with forgiveness. But when I tried to get in touch with Gina, I discovered that she committed suicide in high school.
I have very good reasons to believe that she switched schools because of me. I am torn up with guilt and haunted by my past actions. I have nightmares about what I did to her—it's like reverse PTSD where I remember the awful things I've done to others. I have her mother's email address but I haven't had the guts to contact her. Should I send her an email? What do I say? I know this sounds gutless but I'm also scared of any legal consequences I might face after I own up to my actions......
Read the rest here.....
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2012/10/dear_prudence_i_was_a_bully_now_i_m_tormented_by_guilt.html?wpisrc=obinsite
After I became a parent at 19, my daughter experienced some minor bullying. I saw how tormented she was and realized the things I inflicted on my classmates were way worse. I made it a mission to track down the people I hurt and apologize. Due to social media, thankfully it wasn't too difficult. Almost everybody I managed to contact responded with forgiveness. But when I tried to get in touch with Gina, I discovered that she committed suicide in high school.
I have very good reasons to believe that she switched schools because of me. I am torn up with guilt and haunted by my past actions. I have nightmares about what I did to her—it's like reverse PTSD where I remember the awful things I've done to others. I have her mother's email address but I haven't had the guts to contact her. Should I send her an email? What do I say? I know this sounds gutless but I'm also scared of any legal consequences I might face after I own up to my actions......
Read the rest here.....
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2012/10/dear_prudence_i_was_a_bully_now_i_m_tormented_by_guilt.html?wpisrc=obinsite
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