My son was bullied throughout school.
And ten years after graduation, the same people who had spent years making him feel like he didn’t belong made sure he wasn’t invited to their class reunion.
They probably thought leaving his name off the list would keep him away.
They were wrong.
My son never had an easy time in school.
While other children were invited to birthday parties, sleepovers, and weekend gatherings, Evan was usually sitting alone.
Nobody wanted him on their team.
Nobody saved him a seat at lunch.
And whenever the teacher announced a group project, Evan was almost always the last person anyone wanted in their group.
At first, I tried to convince myself that it was just part of growing up.
Children could be cruel.
Friendships changed.
Things would get better.
But as the years passed, they didn’t.
They got worse.
Other students laughed at Evan.
They played cruel pranks on him.
They whispered about him in hallways and made him feel like he was somehow different from everyone else.
More than once, he came home pretending that everything was fine.
He would walk through the front door, drop his backpack, and give me the same answer whenever I asked how his day had gone.
