“Oh boy I cannot wait to start this new school. New friends, new teachers, new coaches, new teammates, and of course new targets,” I thought to myself while walking into Greendale Brothers High School. My day began in the guidance counselor’s office. First impression, he seemed kind of cool, but I thought he could be one of those guys who lurks around corners, looking to augment kids’ pain and escort them to the principal’s office. I’d have to watch out for him.

He brought me to my homeroom and right away, I noticed groups situated around the classroom. It was easy to tell the brains, huddled around their piles of textbooks, from the Goth kids, dressed in black, and the jocks, wearing matching sweatshirts in school colors. Since most of these guys were football players, I figured that I should probably get to know them. Especially since I would soon be tearing up the field with them.

After I scouted out the classroom, the teacher said to the class, “Good morning class, today we have a new student joining us, his name is Michael. Everyone, as the day goes on please introduce yourself to him, and introduce him to at least one of your friends. We want to make him feel welcome hear at Greendale.” The class let out an unenthusiastic “OK”.  I thought to myself, “Today is going to be a really long day.” Homeroom seemed to drag on, but it was really only fifteen minutes. The rest of the day went better than expected. I met a bunch of kids who played football and some of them had already heard about my reputation on the field. That made me feel pretty confident. All of my teachers seemed really nice so I thought, I might actually like it here. This could be the new beginning I needed.

The weeks rolled by, my classes kept getting harder and I found myself falling back into old habits again. There was this one kid who was just fun to pick on. He was scrawny and thought that he was cool because he played JV football. I would tease him every chance that I had. Some of the things that I said to him were so mean but I thought they were comical. I’d call him a wimp. I’d tell him that he couldn’t talk to me because he was only a JV player. I’d tell him that if he ever played in an actual game, he wouldn’t have to give me his lunch money anymore. It may have been hurting him, but it was so funny, I couldn’t stop.

Then the entire school year took a turn for the worse. I was in the locker room and the kid who I made fun of walked in. Looking around, I didn’t see any teachers, so I went over and shoved him into the locker. That’s when I heard an awful sound. It was my guidance counselor, telling me to go to the school’s principal, Mrs. George’s office. My next conversation is one that I will never forget.

“Sit down Michael,” she commanded right as I entered her office. I took my seat and she asked, “Do you know why you’re in here?”

Being wise and trying to lighten the moment, I replied, “Because you wanted to meet your school’s newest football star?”

I don’t think that she liked this answer very much because suddenly, her facial expression changed and she started to raise her voice, “You listen to me young man, I read your transcripts and I know who you are. You were expelled from your old school for bullying. I don’t want to have to kick you out of this school too. According to your old school, you have all of the talent in the world, but you were really mean, especially to one student, Tommy George. Do you remember him? He just happens to be my son.”

When she said this I didn’t know what to do. I froze. I had been really mean to Tommy back at Jefferson High. My teasing and taunting was the reason they tossed me! How could this be happening?

Then she said, “I can forgive you for bullying my son, but I can not and will not let you do this to another child. To punish you I am not letting you play in the first three games. Instead of you playing, Matthew will take your spot. You know who Matthew is? The boy that you’ve been targeting?”

“Will I be able to practice?”

“Yes, I will permit that, but know that I will have my teachers watching you very closely and if there is another incident you will not be able to participate in football this year at all.”

The next week was tryouts for football. The coach was already informed with the news of me not being able to play and he was really hard on me. If I didn’t run a route the exact amount of yardage that he wanted, I would be forced to sprint up and down the field five times and do ten up-downs. He was mimicking me and teasing me too. I brought this up with him after the practice and he said that I should get used to it. That week was the worst week of my young life. I have never felt so hated in my life. I wondered if I should even keep playing football. I realize that it seems odd that someone like me, the superstar sophomore would want to quit just because the coach was being mean to me, but I had never felt so tormented in my life. When the roster was released and I saw that I made the team, I was honestly shocked!

The coach pulled me into his office and he asked, “Do you like the way I treated you at tryouts?”

“No.”

“Do you know why I did it?”

“Because you don’t like the way I play?” I asked suspiciously.

“No it isn’t because I don’t like the way you play, it is that I heard that you bullied one of my favorite players in our system. So I wanted to bully you and make you know what it feels like to be picked on for not really any reason at all. Also, I wanted to ask you, why did you bully Matthew?”

This question is one that I did not know how to answer. I said unconfidently, “I don’t know coach, he was just annoying me.”

“How was he annoying you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I think that you do know and just won’t tell me. Is it because you are bullied at home? Because if it is, I want you to talk to me because I want you to be able to have someone you can talk to. You are an incredible football player and I can’t have you on the sidelines for the season. I need you Michael.”

Hearing Coach say he needed me on the field, made me feel important, but it also made me think about what I did to Matthew and Tommy. I certainly didn’t like being berated and talked down to. Why did I have the right to do that to them? 

On the first day back to school, I apologized to Matthew and to Tommy for treating them the way that I did. After the first three games on the sidelines, I realized that not only did I hurt their feelings, but I let the team down too because I couldn’t play and do my part. We need to be responsible for our words and actions and also conscious of the affects they have on others. Each person is important and needs to be treated with respect.