Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational True Story
by Jodee Blanco is a very moving book that took me back to feelings and memories that I had of when I was in high school. Although I was never bullied, I remember seeing kids being bullied and it is such a tragic thing for young ones to have to endure.
Jodee tells of her experiences of trying to fit in, yet never quite being good enough for the popular crowd because she was one of those people that liked to stand up for what is right. I felt her pain and confusion as she told stories of the abuse, both emotionally and physically. She described in great detail of the traumatic childhood she experienced. Changing schools changed nothing for her. Its almost as if these kids that bully can single out the ones that have already been bullied and just continue the cycle. I did question whether she brought some of this on her own doing. She continuously talks of wanting to be part of the popular crowd. There are plenty of children that she could have chosen to be friends with but she kept going back to the ones that treated her badly. It was a good book but I did feel as if she was trying to make you feel sorry for her in some way.
I do have to say that I was not very happy with the end of the story....even as an adult she has let these people have control of her happiness. I strongly believe in choosing your own path to happiness, as a nurse I have witnessed horrible things and many of deaths. But I don't dwell on this, it's part of life. You have to choose to pick up the pieces and move on with your life, something that Jodee Blanco has not done.
This book did bring fear to my mind as I think of my children growing up now and I pray that nothing like this happens to them or any other child for that matter. Kids can be so cruel and as parents we want to protect our children but Jodee's parents did go about everything the wrong way. The schools failed to recognize it. There needs to be serious consequences for bullies. I am very thankful that she has shared her story and is educating schools and others on how to handle bullying and how to get help, but I also feel that she needs to help herself get over her past. She needs to let go and quit playing the victim, and this book may be her way of doing so, but she will never be able to be completely satisfied in her life until moves on to the next chapter in her life.
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