Article May 20, 2019 Issue

Bullying and the love that heals it

Susanne van Eyl

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column, December 6, 2018.

In middle school I was bullied by a boy in my class. In the beginning he imitated everything I did, grinning insolently when he realized that I found it annoying.

Things went from there and culminated, perhaps a week later, in something more physical. As I entered the classroom, he put a bicycle lock around my neck in one quick motion and snapped it shut. Seconds later the teacher walked in, preventing me from doing anything. The boy went off to his seat gloating and laughing, and the other boys thought it was funny as well.

The teacher said nothing when he saw my mortified face, but made the boy take the lock off my neck before he dismissed the class. There were no further repercussions; the boy wasn’t punished, and I was expected to forget the whole thing. But I couldn’t.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

How I Found Christian Science

An answer to prayer