High school bullying victim gets revenge via her bully's children
By Merryn Porter |
There is no doubt that being the target of bullies can leave a victim suffering from lifelong problems. Now one woman is getting her revenge on her childhood bully via her former bully's young children.
A woman wrote to the Dear Prudence advice column at Slate.com with the subject: Help! the woman I bullied in high school is taking her revenge on my sons.
"I'm a little ashamed and just don't know what to do," the woman started the letter. "I enrolled my two boys into an exclusive private school in our new hometown.
READ MORE:?Mum's warning after daughter rushed to ER following cat bite
"At a school event, I bumped into an attractive woman whom I didn't recognise. She came by and asked if I remember her. It turns out that she was someone I bullied in high school."
The woman said that after that day she noticed other mothers avoiding her and assumed her former victim had told them she used to bully her. But things soon got even worse.
"Eventually my boys started coming home, crying and upset that other kids wouldn't play with them," she said.
"My younger son was not allowed to join a game of hockey during recess because another boy told him 'my mum says your mum is a b***h'. They are now openly being ridiculed and ostracised at school by their peers."
READ MORE: Deaf daughter inspires mum's heartwarming Elf on the Shelf idea
The woman said she asked her former classmate to meet with her and apologised for bullying her when she was "young and stupid, although I don't much remember what I did".
"She smiled at me in a creepy way and said she went through therapy for what I put her through."
The woman said she hadn't told her husband "because I'm a little ashamed at how I used to treat her", and changing her sons' school "was not a feasible option, but I just don't know what to do".
The advice columnist wrote: "So this woman's revenge on your long ago mistreatment of her is to lead her children in a campaign to ostracise and bully your children? Boy oh boy, does she need more therapy."
READ MORE: Parents more likely to refuse COVID-19 vaccine for kids than themselves
She said while she was "understandably ashamed of what you did and want to keep it quiet", she needed to tell her husband and sons, and disclose how "your misdeeds are being revisited on your innocent boys".
She also urged the woman to contact the school so steps could be taken "to stop the bullying of your sons".
However, she warned it was unlikely she would ever be accepted by the other mums.
"You have entered a Hollywood-ready high school revenge story," she wrote. "Even if you get the other kids to back off your boys, you've got a tough road ahead since now all the other mothers know just how miserably you treated their friend.
"Let's hope some parents will decide not to relive the worst of high school, understand people change and refuse to be drawn into this drama."
She said "leading a campaign to have your children mistreated" could even backfire on the other woman, but warned that if things didn't improve, she should consider other options for her sons' schooling.
