I went through most of my school experience as a bullied kid, and developed an eating disorder called Binge at an early age and struggled with it for many years. I had very little friends, people constantly stole my things, shoved me in the halls, and called me awful names every day. I couldn't walk down the hallways, or change for gym without the fear of judgment and began to hate doing things I use to love to do. Soon I even became afraid to raise my hand in class and had a hard time doing simple things like making eye contact and carrying out conversations. I remember waking up and being afraid to go to school and how eventually I became afraid to even talk to people; I began to develop social anxiety. I had always been a very people oriented person by nature and I am quite sure that made dealing with bullying much harder than it would have otherwise been. My family reported the bullying to the schools on multiple occasions and school after school not once was anything ever done.

I was bullied for a total of eight years before I finally left to home school, and I barely made it through the year. My family has never been very outgoing so I didn't have much social interaction, and the one friend I did have I only got to see about every second weekend. I found myself becoming very depressed due to the lack of people around me, and nearly failed my grade eight year due to having to learn everything completely on my own. I went from a student who got 80's to a student who barely got 50's. For my entire year of homeschooling people who had tormented me my whole life Facebook-ed me telling me how much they missed me and then later those same people would message me being just as awful to me as they had been in the beginning. Everyday I struggled to try and understand why all of this had happened to me, and as the depression worsened I began to have suicidal thoughts.

After my grade eight year I made the decision to go back to public school, but this time outside of the Rocky School system. The fears I had when in Rocky followed me there, and when someone would say hi I would start analyzing them trying to figure out if they were just setting me up to bring me down. I waited and waited every day for 2 weeks to hear a name thrown at me, but it never happened. On my first day I had made more friends than I had ever had in Rocky, and the fact that it was real, the fact that it was possible for me to go a whole day without being called 'fat' or 'ugly, ' was and still is the hardest thing I have ever had to accept. I will never forget how I felt when I walked out of the school on my first day, and how hard I cried when I got into the car. September 6th 2012 was the first time I had ever cried of happiness.

Yes it is true I am no longer in the Rocky school system and I am better now, but better doesn't mean cured. To this day I still suffer with social anxiety, I am still insecure about my body, I still have trust issues, and I still resent those who stood by and didn't attempt to do a thing. I still see people everyday in stores and on the streets who caused me pain, and I look them in the eye and swallow my pride when they give me a phony smile and tell me how happy they are to see me. My experience with bullying was bad, but I wasn’t the only one. I watched my friends cut, attempt suicide, become satanists, turn to drugs and alcohol, and develop eating disorders, and what's more is that I stood there helplessly as I watched people who had the power to stop it stand and not do a thing to help.

Bullying is still happening right here in our little community, and people are still standing by. No one should have to go through bullying but it happens, and while transferring schools was one of the most positive experiences of my life, it shouldn't have to become the only option. Not only is it not fair to be forced out of your school, but its also not right! When you go to school with a group of people for 8 years they should become your friends and allies, not the people that make you afraid to leave your house. After going through what I had gone through and seeing what others had been through (and are still going through), I couldn't and won't stand by. After some serious emotional healing I decided to pick up the pieces, put myself back together, and be strong for those who can't be strong for themselves. I sat down and made a Facebook page thinking I might help and maybe even inspire 20 or so people, but as the days went on it grew and before I knew it we were more than a Facebook page. I got my best friend on board and later another good friend, and together the three of us started what I hope will be the difference; Stop The Madness Universal.

~Breanna Choma~
Senior Manager and Founder of
Stop The Madness Universal

http://stop-the-madness-universal.weebly.com/