Redditors who were bullies in school, why? And do you feel any remorse?

I was bullied a lot in school, but the one time I turned around and bullied another kid made me feel so bad inside that I can barely explain it 30 years later.
— autismparent2017

I bullied several kids. I was bullied significantly growing up, and I had a pretty aggressive home life. My response was being a bully first. As an adult, once I was past my depression and got my life in order, I realized how I caused the same pain for others. I've reached out to some and apologized. I try to be a decent person now and help others when I can to make up for it. I have two step kids, and I monitor their bullying and being bullied like a crazy. I don't want them to have to deal with what I did.
— AprilTron

I bullied some kids in middle school back in the 90s. Several of them are still known for the crappy nicknames I gave them. I apologized to all of them and they all accepted my apology but every now and then I ask for forgiveness. I bullied them because I found it funny at the time. Once I went to highschool, I was relentlessly bullied so I guess I got what was coming to me.
— ____DEADPOOL_______

One apologized to me recently. When we were kids they hurt me once real bad, and it's always somewhat haunted me because the whole thing was pretty traumatic. I'm not gonna go into details but it wasnt physically scarring, just a memory I've always retained. Anyways come a few months ago, I come across this guy and he stops me and asks if I'm so and so. I say yes and we catch up some. Then he says he remembers that incident and how he's always felt bad about it. I laughed and said I didn't remember(which wasn't true). I tell him no worries and we go our ways. That was such a weird moment for me because in my head it felt like I had frozen. But at the same time it was kind of a relief to get an apology . I guess I could really feel the guys remorse.
— CellularBeing

I was following the herd, pretty meek kid, and wanted to "fit in" or not feel so weak. Yes, I think about her often and feel shitty for picking on the new kid. Tina. I'm sorry for saying you had cooties.
— Domdommom

I wasn't a bully but when I was a senior I picked up a freshman & put him in a trash can. The thing was this guy was always trying to pick on me. He was always saying shit to me & messing with my stuff. He hung around with some older kids & I think he was trying to impress them. I put up with it for a few months because he was a stupid little kid without much going for him, but I eventually snapped. Into the trash he went. I don't really feel bad about it. He deserved it but I do feel bad about the aftermath. I'm female so people would make fun of him for being "beaten up" by a girl. Even though I didn't actually beat him up. He also got the nickname Garbage & I think that followed for a few years. Tl;dr I bullied once. I felt I had good reason. I feel remorse (sort of).
— ImNotHimEither

God this thread opens up old wounds. You'd think after 7 years the things bullies did to me in High School would go away. But no, it still hurts. It's probably a big reason I have social anxiety and feel like everyone laughing near me is laughing at me. I should've punched the bully when I had the chance. I was twice his size. Fucking zero tolerance policies. He didn't care if he was expelled. I did. That's why he was able to get away with it; he knew I couldn't touch him. Can you imagine that, being physically able to lay down the law on someone making your life miserable but having to play by the rules otherwise your entire future is ruined?
— GraveyardOperations

Wow, I finally have an askreddit to relate to and it’s one of my worst faults. Pardon my formatting I’m on mobile. I did bully a few people throughout middle school. I wasn’t big or scary by any means, I’m actually rather skinny and very much not intimidating. To be honest, I didn’t even realize I was bullying those people until much later, near graduation day of high school. I couldn’t tell you why, though. I had a good childhood, good friends. I just guess that I thought it was funny, or some kind of game, almost. They never told me to stop or piss off in any way, so I thought they were just cool with it. All the name calling, making fun of them, messing around with them. I do feel remorseful. Very much so, actually. In senior year and since then I’ve reached out to the people I picked on and actively tried to apologize and make amends. Only a few ever got back to me, and I was mostly told to piss off. Which is fair, I deserve that. It at least brings me solace in the fact that they’re all doing very well for themselves and I didn’t cause any noticeable lasting damage. Still feel bad though.
— HalfBredHellion

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