Hard Won Knowledge

Secondary school was a very bad experience for me. It was a grammar school, called the Maths School, and it was hellish. I was bullied pretty much every day for seven years and hated going to school pretty much every day. I had Asperger’s and dyspraxia which made me enough of a target but I also had been at a lovely private school so that made it even easier for my tormentors, both fellow students and many teachers. Even my ‘friends’ were quite happy to make fun of me, so even in their company I never felt completely comfortable. What did I learn? That people were basically unpleasant unless they were guided or forced to be nice. That if you are different you will get bullied because it makes bullies feel better about themselves. That bullies never change. A school bully is a bully for life and they become bullies in every area they infect. Finally I learnt that I would never be a teacher like the ones who made my life a misery. School for me was definitely not the ‘best days of my life’ and I doubt it was for anyone other than the bullies.