Todd Snyder gave us a compelling and dramatic talk about stopping someone from being bullied during our session 7 class.  I would like to share with you the email he received from David, who was the subject and target during school.  Thank you Todd for sharing your experiences with us!

David’s Story - his email:

In honor of Spirit Day, I'll be wearing purple tomorrow to help bring awareness to the Stop The Bullying Campaign. But today, I want to tell you a story about why it's important. So, if you have a moment, please stop and read this post. I understand that people will have strong feelings about this story. That's ok. So do I. After all, it's my story. I want you to understand that I both loved and trusted my parents, and I still do. I honestly believe that if they could have tilted the world on its axis to save me, they'd have found a way. And I believe that more than once, they tried.

This story isn't about blame. This story is to make you aware of what can happen. This story is to open your eyes. This story is true. I'd like you to imagine for a moment, that I was a Very Happy child. That's what mom tells me, and I sort of remember that. Things went good early on. There was no school, days were sunny, and I played a lot. But life goes on.

By the time I was in 3rd grade, "different" was an understatement. I stopped doing my homework so I could get detention so I couldn't be the designated "Queer" in the recess game of "Smear the Queer." And I never told anyone.

When I was in 5th Grade, I got hit, repeatedly, with an Aluminum Baseball Bat because I was wasn't playing the cool games at recess. And I never told anyone. When I was in 7th Grade, I got spit on every day in Gym Class. I told the teacher. And he did nothing. I didn't tell anyone else. Later on in that same class, I got my forehead smashed into the edge of a sidewalk and needed stitches. I didn't have a choice, so I told someone. A kid got detention. And I got told it wouldn't have happened if I stood up for myself.

Later that month, I kicked the kid who did it right in the nose. I got suspended. And I got told that violence wasn't the answer. I guess he told someone.

In Eighth grade, 3 weeks in a row, I had to wait in the locker room, naked, while my clothes got washed in the Home Ec room, because I got peed on. I told someone...and they told me to bring extra clothes. Later that year, I got rolled down a staircase in a trashcan, naked. I told someone. And nothing happened.

In 9th Grade, I got thrown off a second floor balcony. And I never told anyone. My entire Freshman year, I spent every lunch period trying to find a way through the lunch room that didn't include my food getting spit on. I never found one. And I never told anyone. I threw up every day of my freshman year, before Earth Science, to avoid the lockers on the 3rd floor...because I fit in them. And I never told anyone.

I was hospitalized that year for losing weight, vomiting, and not eating. I had to tell someone. And they didn't believe me. I was cornered in a room and threatened with rape.

And I never told anyone. In the middle of the night, I still wake up sometimes, too scared to breathe. When I walk down the hall, I look over my shoulder. I don't sit with my back to doors. And I don't tell anyone why. Some of you are thinking that it's just some schools... but I went to NINE. Some of you are thinking that it's because I didn't stand up for myself... but I did. Some of you are thinking that it's because I didn't tell anyone... but I did. Some of you have solutions that worked for you. Some of you have solutions that might have worked for me. Some of you have an answer. Some of you have questions.

But all of us together have an obligation. An obligation to make sure this never happens to a child again. We have an obligation to protect everyone's children. It doesn't matter how different they are. It doesn't matter how they spend their recess. It doesn't matter what they wear. What matters is keeping our children safe.

Tomorrow, as a sign that we want to stop the bullying, we have the option to wear purple. I'll be wearing mine. Will you?