Annie (AKA Hey Terra!) has been around long enough to have experienced a lot of what Life can dish out. But, it hasn’t been so long that she's forgotten what it's like to be your age. Check out some of the thousands of email questions teens from around the world have sent to Terra. You may learn something useful from her answers:
Bullying:
“I'm afraid I'm going to get beaten up.”
Hey Terra,
My ex and I got in a big fight today. Later his friends called me and said that he called up his girl cousins. He told me to gather up my friends coz "they're gonna get you beat up." I called my friends and one of them said that if they do "They're going to call for back up." But she thought that it's just a way to scare me and that's not really going to happen. But I'm still freaked out and scared. If they are really going to beat me up. What do I do?Brunnie
Dear Brunnie,
Don't let your fear push you in the direction of doing something you will later regret. In fact, the best thing you can do is think about ways to calm your fear. Think about the basic goodness that is who you really are.
Go to school tomorrow with the clear idea in your heart and mind that this world has enough fear and anger and violence in it already and that YOU are not going to add to it. Talk to a teacher that you trust or to the school counselor about the threats that were made to you. Be honest with them about your fear and if the girls who threatened you are planning something mean, then the school's job is to protect you. Please do not encourage your friends to be part of any fighting.
Do you want more peace in the world, in your community, and in your school? I believe you do. If so, don't wait for someone else to make the peace... It's up to YOU, every moment, to choose peace.
Get help from the adults in charge of the school and then declare peace.
Good luck.
In friendship,
Terra
Need some advice? Write to Terra.
She'll give you a straight answer you can trust without any lectures.
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