What made you feel happy and comfortable in your own skin when you were a teenager?

My close relationship with my parents and my amazing, unique and open minded friends who were there for me no matter what.

I do worry about our kids these days.

On 7/15/2014 Love the Au and Ag said:

I have more and more kids who want to eat lunch with me or other teachers because they feel like they don't have friends to eat lunch with. Some kids don't want to be friends with other kids and some want friends but no one will be friends with them.

God bless you for doing this and allowing students who feel unsafe/bullied or friendless to have a safe place to eat lunch in peace.

It says so much about our society. Children growing up who feel they don't have a friend in the world.

On 7/15/2014 Love the Au and Ag said:

We all know that true beauty is beyond the makeup, hair, jewelry and clothes we have/wear but as you were growing up what made you start to feel comfortable with your looks and who you were? (I'm not putting down makeup, jewelry and clothing. I have more than enough.)

I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a smaller school and had great friends. My best friend was much more outgoing than I was so she was able to drag me along to social events. I really don't think I would be the person I am today without her.

I teach at a larger middle school and I worry about so many students. They don't get time to make many friends because every class period is with different kids and most don't get to socialize after school because some are over-scheduled or parents don't want to let kids wander for safety reasons. I have more and more kids who want to eat lunch with me or other teachers because they feel like they don't have friends to eat lunch with. Some kids don't want to be friends with other kids and some want friends but no one will be friends with them.

On 7/15/2014 HappyDaze said:

My close relationship with my parents and my amazing, unique and open minded friends who were there for me no matter what.

I do worry about our kids these days.

My friends and the great supportive teachers we were fortunate enough to have.

On 7/15/2014 BellaCarro said:

On 7/15/2014 HappyDaze said:

My close relationship with my parents and my amazing, unique and open minded friends who were there for me no matter what.

I do worry about our kids these days.

Good reason to worry. My son was assaulted by three classmates when he was nine. He just turned 19. We are still dealing with the fallout of that incident and other bullying.

oh that is so horrible! It breaks my heart when I hear things like this, Bella, I am so sorry. Sometimes I just wonder what is wrong with this world.

On 7/15/2014 BellaCarro said:

On 7/15/2014 HappyDaze said:

My close relationship with my parents and my amazing, unique and open minded friends who were there for me no matter what.

I do worry about our kids these days.

Good reason to worry. My son was assaulted by three classmates when he was nine. He just turned 19. We are still dealing with the fallout of that incident and other bullying. ETA- when is say assaulted I mean ganged up on and beaten to the point of head being banged into a tennis court.

Bella - this is heartbreaking to hear and it just makes me so sad to think about your son having to endure such a needlessly cruel and inhuman act. I pray that he can somehow, someday be able to put it in his past for good and go on to have a happy, healthy and personally rewarding life as an adult. I know he has one great plus in his life and that is his Mom. Just makes me cry to think about that occurring to an innocent 9 year old child.
Even worse to think about others that age already having that kind of rage - makes you wonder what harm they will inflict as adults and that is truly scary.

I had a fabulous best friend along with a great group of additional friends, both male and female and it really was one of the best times of my life. My best friend and I were so close that she even joined us on family vacations. Also blessed with lots of siblings and very active and involved parents. Most Dads back then weren't as active in their children's lives as my Dad was and I have always felt very blessed because of that. He took us to all sorts of events, from a variety of professional sporting events to Broadway plays and more. I really did have a lovely childhood every step of the way.

I went to a very large high school. 1900+ kids just in my graduation class. Web graduated in a sports arena and they still had to hold the graduation over 2 nights. The anonymity was great - teachers did not have any idea what anyones name was and they honestly made it very easy to fly under the radar. I had a latin teacher who used to sleep through the class.

Another big thing , for me in HS , was I dated the same boy all the way through. HS is soooo much easier when you have a boyfriend. It just takes away so much of the painful drama. I also had a core group of friends that I hung out with, and we knew each other so well - we had no secrets from each other. I really enjoyed HS.