BEING BULLIED IS A LIFETIME SENTENCE OF TORMENT
I was just a little five year old boy waiting in line to be let into my first grade class. It was 1953 at a Chicago Elementary school named De-Witt Clinton located on the north side of the city where I grew up. It was the first day of the semester and I did not know many of the forty or so kids in line also waiting to go to their first day of class. For no reason a boy I had never seen before walked in front of me and said "Hey kid, ever been kicked in the balls?" "No", I innocently answered. He then kicked me squarely in my small crotch. I doubled over in pain, went down, and started to cry. As I caught my breath and stood up the last thing on my mind was hitting or retaliating against him. I was too scared and ashamed. The other kids standing around laughed at my misery. They taunted me mercilessly. "Fight, fight, fight," they screamed. I felt humiliated and victimized. I already knew what bullying was and had seen it done to othe...