But it didn’t stop there. The teasing and name-calling
continued for months. I was called a poor and dirty Jew if I
brought matzah to school on Passover or dreidels to share with my
friends on Hanukkah. I was told I belonged in the Holocaust, in the
ovens. One day I got a bloody nose to go along with it. When, one day in
class, I finally found the courage to yell and demand that they leave
me alone, I was sent to the office for disrupting the class.The
next day I switched classes. I made some new friends, and some fake
friends. Two girls who I thought I could trust to be my friends decided
it would be fun to punch me every time I raised my hand to answer a
question and every time I got an A on my tests. Eventually, some boys
teamed up with them, so then there were several of them punching me
seemingly every time they walked past me and every time I answered a
question. The teacher never seemed to notice or care. Later that year, I
was moved to a different school.When
I was in sixth grade, the Anti-Defamation League had a workshop for
students and their parents at my synagogue in Stamford, Connecticut, to
teach families skills for confronting anti-Semitism. I knew I wanted to
contact them. I wanted to be involved. I finally felt that there was a
chance for hope. Before I knew it, I was meeting with the coordinator of
ADL’s Confronting Anti-Semitism program and learning to become a teen
trainer and spokesperson for the ADL.Many times
I ask, what if I had never met an ADL representative? What if my mother
had told me not to worry? What if I stayed silent, hoping the harassment
would go away and they would stop hurting me?Instead,
I was taught to stand up for myself and others. I got help, and a door
was opened for me I never knew existed. My message to children all over
the world is this: Have hope. Be strong, fight for what you believe, and
always tell your mom and dad everything. Being bullied is not OK. It is
never OK, and you don’t need to accept it or stand for it.As
bleak as your circumstances seem, it will not be dark forever if you
find a community and support and make change for yourself, as I did.Melanie Roloff is an 18-year-old college student in Stamford, Connecticut. In 2012, Roloff was named among
Connecticut’s top Jewish leaders by the Jewish Ledger. She is still
working with the Anti-Defamation League as a teen program
coordinator. This column is part of ADL’s #WeAreOneDay campaign against hate.
Anti-Semitic bullies targeted me in school. Now I’m fighting for other Jewish children.
ForLoveFromFear 