Julia

I was in seventh grade, and my class had a substitute teacher. During silent reading, our teacher would pick three or four random names out of a container to sit on the comfy chairs in the back (some armchairs).

My name was picked and I stood up to sit down to read in the back of the room. While I stood up, the substitute teacher made a remark in front of the whole class that I only got picked because I was pretty (and other stuff about my body).

I felt ashamed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable, not only because a 50-60 year old man said this to a teenager girl, but also because everyone in my class turned to stare at me while he was speaking, and I felt the weight of their eyes on me and my body.

Luckily, I never saw the substitute teacher again, but for the next few months I was terrified that I would be put in a class with him.

This incident made me feel so humiliated and self conscious that for years I tried to block out what he said and felt pain when I remembered it.

Please speak up if something like this happens to someone you know. No one in my class did.