I was emotionally and mentally bullied for five years at a girls' grammar school that purported to turn us into 'ladies'. As a result of that and the total lack of support from staff who were only interested in academic achievement, I basically gave up on school, just ending up bumming around the place not doing much at all, much to the annoyance of the staff and the despair of my parents. I became sullen and withdrawn and had few friends.
Because it wasn't physical bullying, and because other forms of bullying weren't addressed by schools in the 1970s, it went unnoticed. I couldn't talk to my parents, and if I had told teachers then they would just have told me not to be so silly.
I lacked confidence for many years, working in dead-end jobs because I'd failed at school. It wasn't until I went to university as a mature student that I began to realise my own potential. These days, I'm happy, more or less, although I still have a poor self-image (years of being called horse-face and big-bum).
Feel free to use my comments. If I can stop one person going through the same thing, then you're welcome. I also have a blog that I haven't updated for some time, but there's an entry on it ("For Louise") that you are free to use in its entirety if you wish:
http://www.frontlinebooks.co.uk/frontline/blog Search.asp?strSearchType=author&strBlogSearchS tring=smellyelly&intBlogId=
Cheers