Bullying is a vice that no one would wish to encounter with, and it is worse for school children. The vice is so common in schools and has led to some children to develop stress, depression while others to lose their lives. Deborah is one of the children who almost committed suicide after being bullied at school.

As Deborah was an amazing but a reserved child when growing up, she was also different from all her siblings and always wanted things done her way.

After completing Primary Seven, Deborah was admitted in a secondary school in Western Uganda. However, she did not look forward to studying from there but her parents forced her to join a school in that region.

When the time for reporting at school came, she was taken in company of her parents and two siblings. However, days after the beginning of term one, she hadn’t yet got any friends in school yet every one else seemed to enjoy the environment. Was it because she did not speak Runyankole yet she was one? No.

Deborah just felt out of place because she was very lonely because it seemed students had plotted to isolate her.

One evening after evening preps, she went to her bed to sleep but found it wet because someone had poured there water and could not sleep in it. Deborah spent the whole night awake.

Deborah narrated that in the morning, she took her mattress out to dry, but this did not go well because students started singing of how she urinates on bed.

“I was very embarrassed, the whole school was singing my name and how I urinate on bed,” Deborah revealed.

She reached an extent of wanting to get lost in the ground that day. In the evening of that same day, Deborah got another shock of her life after she found faeces in her bed that she couldn’t hold her tears and anger anymore because she had no strength to carry on.

In the night, Deborah pretended to have gone for extended reading in class and timed when everyone was asleep, she then removed the bedsheets and threw them in the latrine.

The next morning, Deborah went to the sick bay and told the nurse that she wasn’t feeling well, as she had spent two days without sleeping. As the nurse was giving other students medicine before attending to her, she stole a container which had Aspirin tablets and then rushed to class and swallowed them.

On waking up the next day, Deborah found herself in hospital and first people her eyes landed on, were the school nurse and Headmistress.

On asking her why she wanted to end her life, tears rolled out of her eyes. She was then told to calm down and assured her of how her parents were soon arriving. She felt comforted on hearing about her parents’ coming.

After the parents’ arrival, in the presence of the  Headmistress and nurse, Deborah narrated what she was going through while at school. This shocked the Headmistress as she wondered how such acts were going on in her school without her knowledge.

Unfortunately, on being asked the culprits, Deborah could not mention them because she had no one in mind since the whole school seemed to hate her. Her parents had no option but to transfer her to Kampala to a school of her choice. That is how she was able to regain her self esteem.

Deborah is currently a medical doctor and counselor after pursuing a bachelors degree in medicine and studying a course in psychology which career she takes pride in.

“I chose this career so that I am able to help children who might be going through what I went through. I often get time to visit schools and counsel students. My ordeal gave me courage to become a better person,” she said.

According to the 2019 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 20% which is one out of every five middle and high school students, report being bullied each year.

However, a report from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 2019 indicates that, the youth who are bullied are at an increased risk of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school.

Research has also indicated that persistent bullying can lead to feelings of isolation or even worsen them, create a feeling of rejection, exclusion, despair, depression and anxiety, which can lead to high chances of committing suicide.