It's problem page time again on DREAMCATCHER, and reader Serena is struggling with a friendship issue... can Honey Tanberry help?
Serena says:
I've recently started secondary school with friends from my primary. In primary they were a bit mean, but now they are worse than ever. They push me around and call me names because I am English and we live in Scotland, and make jokes about how I look. It hurst so much and I want it to stop. One girl is nice when she's away from the group, but when she's with them she's mean too, as if she's trying to impress them.
Honey says:
Ouch. I've had my fair share of hanging round with mean girls, and I'm done with it - never again. Mean friends are usually very insecure and pick on others to make themselves feel better... pretty sad, really. As you've seen, some of the group may be uncomfortable with the mean stuff, but will still join in to stay a part of the group. You can try talking to this girl alone and seeing how she feels about it, but when it comes to the crunch she may not have the courage to step away from the mean girls. You, though, have no choice. If you stick with these girls they will destroy your self esteem. At the start of secondary, you have a perfect opportunity to make new friends and find people you can genuinely trust. Be brave, and step away from these bullies. You are nobody's doormat.
Cathy says:
Strong advice from Honey, but wise, I think. Have YOU ever had to handle low-level bullies or mean girls? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
Serena says:
I've recently started secondary school with friends from my primary. In primary they were a bit mean, but now they are worse than ever. They push me around and call me names because I am English and we live in Scotland, and make jokes about how I look. It hurst so much and I want it to stop. One girl is nice when she's away from the group, but when she's with them she's mean too, as if she's trying to impress them.
Ouch. I've had my fair share of hanging round with mean girls, and I'm done with it - never again. Mean friends are usually very insecure and pick on others to make themselves feel better... pretty sad, really. As you've seen, some of the group may be uncomfortable with the mean stuff, but will still join in to stay a part of the group. You can try talking to this girl alone and seeing how she feels about it, but when it comes to the crunch she may not have the courage to step away from the mean girls. You, though, have no choice. If you stick with these girls they will destroy your self esteem. At the start of secondary, you have a perfect opportunity to make new friends and find people you can genuinely trust. Be brave, and step away from these bullies. You are nobody's doormat.
Cathy says:
Strong advice from Honey, but wise, I think. Have YOU ever had to handle low-level bullies or mean girls? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
Yeah, I've been through something sorta like this. So there was this girl who was once my bff, but then she started bullying me, so I stopped being friends with her, and moved on to my other group of friends. But then my group started hanging out with her, so I had to as well. Sometimes most of them would be mean to me, but only when she was around. I don't see what they liked about her, she was a liar, a backstabber and a bully. I then got together with these other two girls who were going through the same thing as me. I was so relieved when she left at the end of the year. And I am still best friends with the group that hung out with her, they don't like her now, they claimed that they never did, but I know they are lying. This year I moved to secondary school as well, and me and my friends all went to different schools, but I made new friends. If there is another group or person that you could get to know, I recommend that. You may not think so but most people have been through something similar.
ReplyDeleteHope my comment helps.
My real name is actually Sophie, but I use Tayla_Dance for my Pic Collage so I just used that as my username.
Sophie xxx
Hope that helped
ReplyDeleteI havnt joined secondary,am still in yr 6!No bullies cos my school don't allow it
ReplyDeleteReally good advice! I went through a similar thing, but the people did it without thinking as they had gotten into the habit of doing it to other people. I gave up on them, in the end, though.
ReplyDelete