[Serious] Reddit, were any of you bullied as a child? How has it affected your life?

I had buck teeth as a child, so that's where it began. From third to fifth grade, I wore braces and that was so my teeth would look from worse to bad. Due to this, after the age where not everyone was obligated to be invited to birthday parties, they stopped trickling in.

Middle School was the worst because the bullying was something that I just accepted because it had been going on for so long at that point. I use to dread going to school on a daily basis, and it didn't help that I took refuge in books or school so refusing to help others cheat was essentially doubling down. To this day I still believe middle schoolers are the worst people out there.

High school it got a bit better because at that point they just ignored you, but I still got crap for being "that" kid in class who would get the answers right. I transferred to the other high school in town in 10th grade and things got a bit better but I didn't really hang out with anyone. All of the years of bullying coupled with a number of other issues made it extremely difficult for me to open up and make new friends.

Things did get a bit better in high school as I got involved and made some friends. By the time I was entering college, I had some close friends, although I eventually lost contact with them because of college.

Ironically, now in college, I'm the type of person who's overly involved and actually am considered to be a "social butterfly" of sorts by everyone who knows me because I'm the guy who "knows everyone" on campus. However, the days of bullying still leave their emotional and mental scars giving me at times crippling low self-esteem and self-confidence in myself.

It's something I try to work through each day. If it's one piece of advice I could give to any prospective parent or parent, it's make sure your kid isn't a bully. The amount of damage they can cause will last years long after their words and actions stop.

/r/AskReddit Thread