Last year, Billy was my bully. He was big. He was mean. He followed me around, and sometimes he would use his body to push or kick me. This year I have Eddy for my bully. He, too, is mean. He says mean things. He tries to tell some of my friends not to be my friend. It hurts my feelings. He gets me mad. Somedays we are friends, and he makes me laugh. And then the next day it changes, and he's mean again.

My mom and I went to talk to my teacher. I wanted to change class rooms. I wanted to change schools. My mom said I can't run away because there may always be a bully in my life, and you have to learn to deal with them. She said I can learn tools to use to not let my bully bother me. Sometimes I can ignore him when he makes faces or says mean things to me or to my friends. Sometimes I can tell him to "STOP." Other times I can let him know I will tell the teacher if he continues to tease or hurt me.

One day, when I was on the playground, I heard my bully crying. A teacher went over to him, and I overheard him telling her how sad he was. His parents had divorced, and he was very angry and mad at them and at himself. He thought it was his fault. I started to feel badly for my bully. I knew what it was like to have parents that no longer lived together. I still get sad and angry that I live in two homes. It does get confusing.

All of a sudden I felt something different towards my bully. My mom called it compassion. I think it means that you can feel what they feel. I started to understand more why Eddy, my bully, acted the way he did. He was angry at the world and at himself, and the only way he could deal with it was to be mean.

I still don't know why he chose me to be mean to. Maybe he just knew I would understand.