speak out

"Look at yourself, ugh!"
"Not even plastic surgery could help you."
"Did you see what she's wearing again? What a nightmare!"
"Do you hear that? They're badmouthing you again..."

I used to hear this almost daily in middle school. In eighth grade, on a class photo, one of my classmates even burned out my face, saying that I would ruin the picture. Many breaks I spent trembling and crying in the bathroom. Yeah, I was probably a bit different, unusual, maybe weird. I didn't (and still don't) have perfect skin or teeth. I didn’t wear the latest fashionable clothes—how could I, when my mom had to deal with things like figuring out how to feed us because my dad had once again gambled away his paycheck at the slot machines? Middle school was one of the most toxic environments I’ve ever had to navigate, and I believe I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

There were definitely moments when I joined in on someone else, just to divert attention away from myself and have a brief moment of peace. For many of us who were "affected in the same way," this was the only defense that worked. I regret it deeply. But I don’t blame others for doing the same—everyone was just trying to find their place, and everyone had their own struggles.

In the lower grades of elementary school, Šárka Tomečková had good relationships with her classmates. However, everything changed when she moved to the upper grades. She began facing insults and ridicule from her peers, primarily because of her appearance. “I didn’t look like my classmates; I definitely wasn’t as physically developed as they were,” says Šárka, now a high school student, who decided to share her experiences in her book Svačinka (Snack).

She endured verbal bullying throughout the entire upper grade period. During the school year, there were phases when she was targeted by her classmates and phases when they simply ignored her. She felt like she didn’t belong among them. Toward the end of elementary school, the attacks from her classmates became more frequent, which took a toll on her mental health. She became afraid to go to school and withdrew into herself. “I blamed myself and kept thinking that the bullying was my own fault,” she explains, describing her feelings.

Five years ago, the city of Liberec was shaken by the suicide of 13-year-old Julie M. The cause was prolonged bullying by her classmates at an elementary school—one that is considered "elite."

This tragedy led to the launch of a two-year project called Princess Julie, which was introduced to journalists yesterday by Liberec Deputy Mayor Ivan Langr. The initiative aims to implement a comprehensive set of measures through which the city, in collaboration with schools and the municipal police, hopes to prevent similar tragedies in the future. “We want bullying in schools to be addressed at its early stages with a stronger impact on the perpetrators because it simply cannot be tolerated,” Langr stated.

“Children often do not realize that their actions may constitute a criminal offense,” added Daniela Bušková, spokesperson for the Liberec municipal police, which will be involved in the project.

"We had no idea what was happening until one day, a terrified teacher ran up to me, asking if I could come with her immediately. She handed me my son, who was lying on the boys' bathroom floor, completely beaten, unable to stand or return to class," a mother recounts anonymously for the podcast Bullying on Rádio Junior.

The bullying then moved outside the school building, she continues. "After our son was ambushed and beaten several times on his way to extracurricular activities, we, along with his grandparents, started taking turns escorting him to and from school," she explains.

The ordeal lasted for several years—beginning when her son entered middle school and continuing until eighth grade.

Her story highlights not only the extreme lengths to which bullying can escalate but also the school's inadequate response. The administration organized an open meeting between the victim and the aggressor, with other classmates present.

However, such an approach rarely leads to genuine remorse from the perpetrator.

"Forcing them to shake hands and declare that everything will be fine forever doesn't solve anything. Those responsible need to understand that they crossed a line—and you can't force that realization on them," says Renata Vordová, a school psychologist and trainer for the Bullying Prevention project.

The First Meeting

As soon as our homeroom teacher walked through the door, she immediately made an unfriendly impression on me. She scanned the entire class with her eyes and then motioned for me to move to the first row. I didn’t understand why and was really upset, so I told her I didn’t want to sit there and didn’t see any reason to move. “If you don’t want to get a note on the very first day of school, then move and don’t argue,” she responded sternly. I had no choice but to gather my things and angrily sit where she pointed. I could feel myself turning red, and a wave of heat rushed over me. The whole class was in complete silence, everyone was on edge. I don’t know what I did to deserve this behavior, but from that moment on, our homeroom teacher, who also taught us German and, as fate would have it, two other subjects, continuously bullied me.

It is easy to become a victim of bullying on the internet. Often, the perpetrator pretends to be someone else and exploits the situation. This is how a lonely boy started receiving messages on social media from a girl. Over time, they exchanged intimate photos. In reality, there was no girl—just classmates who were making fun of him and exploiting his trust. When the boy discovered the truth, he wanted to commit suicide. For his classmates, it was a joke; for him, it was a reason to die.