‘Want to know the reasons bullied kids have to embrace the suck? Here are the circumstances that trap these children in toxic schools.
Millions of bullied victims have no choice but to embrace the suck. Why? Because they’re trapped with no way out.
In this post, you will learn what it means to embrace the suck and how it feels when you’re stuck in a bullying environment with nowhere to go.
Once you learn all these details, you won’t feel alone. You will realize that there are millions of others who share your pain. Moreover, you’ll keep trying to better your situation until you finally find a way out.
This post will teach you the meaning of “embrace the suck.” It will also assure you that you aren’t alone, so that you know that you aren’t the only one.
Embrace The Suck
What does it mean? Here’s the definition.
Embrace the Suck Meaning
It is a popular military phrase. And it means to accept, adapt to, and power through a gawdawful situation you can do nothing about. And do it without whining.
In other words, you have to just “suck it up.”
Life circumstances can sometimes trap young targets of bullying in a school that hates them. It’s easier to get out of a toxic environment when you’re an adult being bullied at work. You can transfer; if you can’t, you can always quit.
However, when you’re a minor, it’s almost impossible. What if your family cannot afford to move to a new school district? Also, what if your parents refuse to move or to transfer you? What if your parents can’t afford to homeschool you?
There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a horrible situation. When everyone in the school is bullying you, and there’s no way of escaping it, it’s the feeling of entrapment!
Just imagine finding yourself in this situation, and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it! You can’t get away from it! You’re just stuck there! I speak from personal experience.
So, What Do You Do?
Nothing. You embrace the suck. In other words, you just grin and bear it. You just accept the god-awful, crappy mess you’re in. Why? Because there’s no other choice.
Until God opens a door for you to leave, you’re just plain screwed. And you make peace with the possibility that things may not get better. And yes, it sucks!
Embrace the Suck:
The Result.
Other classmates keep attacking you every day. And they do it psychologically and physically. Some of the teachers may look down on you because you’re a victim. And the fact is, most teachers, especially male ones, have no respect for victims of bullying.
Moreover, bullies convince them that you’re the instigator. Therefore, school staff constantly watch you. In fact, some of them wait for any excuse to drag you into the principal’s office.
Bullied kids suffer from plummeting grades and poor school performance. Why? Because circumstances force them to live in survival mode.
You see? When your brain must prepare for a hostile environment, the area responsible for learning shuts down. Therefore, your grades fall like a meteor.
This causes school staff to think that you’re just a lazy student who doesn’t want to do the work. Therefore, they refuse to give you the extra help you need.
Gee! That’s an awful lot of suck! And how much suck can one child deal with?
Embrace the Suck:
5 Things that Trap Bullied Kids.
1. Their Parents Can’t Afford to Transfer Them.
It’s true that money isn’t everything. However, life can be damn hard without it. And sadly, this is what traps many bullied kids in schools with a culture of bullying. The lack of extra money.
This goes especially in rural areas. In a small town, there’s little opportunity for upward mobility. Therefore, most rural people can’t just uproot their kids and move them to safer schools.
My family was middle-class, yes. We owned a nice home and had nice cars. However, things were still tough in the 1980s. There were other bullied kids at my school. And most of them were a heck of a lot worse off than me.
2. Some parents are afraid of upsetting the apple cart.
If there’s one thing small towns are good at, it’s taking pride in their schools. When a child leaves a school because of bullying, it causes much resentment among the townspeople.
You don’t have to say a word, and it’s not the transfer itself that pisses them off. It’s the message they get when you leave.
- “Oh, so he didn’t like our school.”
- “So, she doesn’t think our little school is good enough.”
- “Oh, so he thinks he can find a better school, huh?”
Many people will resent you if you move your kid to another school. Especially if they were bullied at the old school. Most small communities see that as an insult. Especially if you take them out of public school and decide to homeschool.
Most school officials despise the idea of homeschooling. Why? Because they hate the competition.
Embrace the Suck:
3. Some Parents feel that moving schools because of bullying is running away from your problems.
This was why my parents didn’t transfer me. They wanted to teach me that running away from your problems didn’t solve them. My dad was in the military.
And the Army trained its soldiers to improvise, adapt, and overcome. So, he wanted to teach me the same thing. My mother wanted to teach me resilience.
Both my parents believed in facing adversity head-on. Therefore, they had good intentions for keeping me there. They also gave me permission to knock the hell out of any bully who hit me first.
I’m grateful they taught me to stand strong. However, they were a different generation.
Most parents don’t realize what their bullied kid is up against.
My parents didn’t realize what I was facing. They knew I was being bullied, yes. But they didn’t know the level of brutality I was suffering.
In their day, you could ignore bullies and make them go away.
Punching a bully in the face was more acceptable when they were in school. In fact, schools allowed kids to defend themselves during my parents’ childhoods.
But by the time I reached school-age, they were beginning to crack down on physical violence. Even if it was self-defense.
It’s even harder for today’s kids. Zero-tolerance policies are in every school now, and they don’t consider self-defense.
Embrace the Suck:
4. Some parents keep their kids in bullying environments to “toughen them up.”
Your parents may keep you there to toughen you up. Again, I believe they do it out of good intentions. It may not necessarily be the smart way to do it. However, I can understand the thought behind it.
What chaps my hide is when teachers at school, especially the male teachers, advise you to “toughen up.”
And the reason they tell you this is that they don’t want to get involved. So they put it all on you. By saying this, they’re shifting the blame onto you. And they’re trying to shame you into staying silent.
However, they don’t realize that by telling you to toughen up, they’re asking for things to escalate. How? You may ask.
Imparting this advice to victims gives them a green light to tell bullies to shove it up their you-know-where. Or, they take it as permission to haul off and knock the bully’s block off.
Not that it’s a bad thing because, in my opinion, bullies deserve a good whack in the nose. However, the problem is that when victims finally do “toughen up,” the same teachers will turn around and punish them for it.
Embrace the Suck:
Today, Bullied Kids Finally Have an Option.
The School Choice Program
Thankfully, you have the school choice program today.
Understand that if you’re a child dealing with bullying, you don’t have to just “embrace the suck.” There’s always School Choice.
Nowadays, families can apply for vouchers that allow them to transfer their child to a new school. These vouchers have saved countless victims from years of peer abuse.
However, if, by chance, School Choice isn’t an option where you live, there are things you can still do:
- document the bullying and have your parent or legal guardian help you with your documentation.
- Also, depending on the jurisdiction you live in, hide a body cam or digital device in your backpack or on your person.
- Thirdly, practice self-care.
And keep the faith. School Choice may not be available in your area now, but it doesn’t mean it won’t be later. You are not powerless. Do the three things above because they are within your control.
When you document and record the bullying and practice self-care, you won’t only change the dynamic. You’ll also feel better knowing that you have, at least, some control.
This post taught you what it’s like to embrace the suck so that you can feel less alone and be encouraged not to give up.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Leaving Town to Escape Bullying: 7 Reasons it’s a Good Idea
2. School Choice: Why it’s a Godsend for Bullied Kids!
3. When Victims of Bullying Change Schools: 12 Things to Expect
4. How to Make Friends when Everyone Hates You: 4 Tips and Tricks
5. How to Stop Being Bullied: 14 Tips to Make Yourself Less a Target














