In School

When I did go to school I used to be in a lot of trouble with the teachers and nuns. I don't like fighting at all but when I'd see three on one, I would get into it. I never started a fight in my life but I'd always be there for the other children. We had a lot of bullies in our school. I used to take five to ten children to school and take them back home so the bullies wouldn't beat them up.

One time in school these bullies were beating a little girl. I took her away and stared beating them up. When I went back to school I got it with a belt from the nun because I beat up one of the "teacher's pets." That didn't bother me then. What got to me was that they didn't care what the bullies were doing to the child. That day after school I beat up the girl again for not telling the truth about what happened. The nun asked me why I was fighting with this one girl. I told her she was beating up the little ones and I didn't like that. She told me to tell her if the girl did that again, and if I could stop fighting until the end of the year she would give me a prize. So I did, and at the end of the year I got a medal and a picture of Our Lady.

- Ann K. Green

From Coming Out of My Shell by Ann K. Green. Educational Planning and Design. Used by permission.