Learning To Stand Up

After facing bullying most of his middle school years, senior Hunter Staley said he never understood why. Staley said bullying left memories he has not forgotten that truly affected him.

“In the seventh grade is when I first got bullied.” Staley said. “It affected me a lot. That’s when I first wore contacts, and they said that I looked like a Ninja Turtle.” 

He just wanted to be himself and express who he was, and he didn’t think being who he was affected other people. He said he only got bullied in middle school because he was more of an introverted person.

“I got bullied for being weird and kind of being a nerd about a lot of different things,” Staley said.

As he has grown, Hunter said he realized he needed to stand up for himself. He hasn’t been bullied in high school because after middle school he learned to stand up for himself. He didn’t want to keep getting picked on by the same boy, and he didn’t want to have any more trouble.

“This negatively affected me because I ended up getting into a fight with the kid,” Staley said. “I got stuff thrown at me, and people insulted me.”

He said while he did get in a fight, there were some positive outcomes. 

“It positively made me learn how to stand up for myself,” Staley said. “They made me realize that I need to stand up for myself more often, made me a little more of a tougher person.” 

He never reported it because he always felt as if he knew he could stand up for himself and eventually he did. The only help he got was from himself when he started to stand up for himself. He never got bullied in high school because people knew not to pick on him because they knew that they couldn’t get away with it like how they used to. He said he learned to use his stature to gain confidence in himself, as he is 6’ 2”.

“I realized that with my size and structure I shouldn’t just be letting people pick on me like that,” Staley said. “And I learned how to stick up for myself more often.”