Cameron C., there is the philisophical idea that whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger. While this is possibly the case, it doesn't say anything about the entire period that you are living with the thing that is supposed to make you stronger. It seems like many philosophers came up with an answer for one exact point but neglected to look at the big picture surrounding the point.

And before I go on, let me state that it does my Nursely heart good to hear you say that you have no want to change yourself to fit in with the masses. It's your right to be what you want to be and not what some other people say that you should be. Many times it's hard to be the "different one", but it's usually those people that wind up being the people that the past tormentors idolize in the future.

The main piece of advice that I can give you is to keep trying to put up with it. That sounds like a cop-out on my part, but it comes from years of getting the same abuse as you are. I spent most of my late elementary - mid high school years being shunned and teased continually just like you are. While everyone else was listening to the Top 40 stations and dressing the way that everyone else did, I'd drive around town blasting bands like The Cure and wearing what I was the most comfortable in. If those outfits included leather jackets, black hornrimmed glasses, purple highlighted hair and big, clunky boots, then that's the way that I was going to be.

While this decision made the other 16 hours of my day bearable, it was the around 8 hours that I had to spend at school that was a living hell, especially on really bad days. It was during this period that I realized that the only person that I have to answer to in this life is myself. If I'm true to myself, then the rest of the world can go to hell for all I cared.

Teasing, hazing, or whatever else they call it now is done by people that aren't comfortable with themselves so they try to lash out at anything that's "different" to themselves. This could be because of skin color, personality, interests, or any other myriad of choices. These people will go after the easiest targets that they can find and won't stop until they think that they have defeated you. If you were to change the person that you are, then you would be giving into all of those years of teasing.

If any of this teasing is violent in nature or they have harmed you physically, then I would definately tell you to report the people that did it to the proper authorities. If it's the verbal abuse like your message sounds like, then my advice to you would be to keep doing what you are doing. It might be hard because they seem to have more power or popularity than you do, but you are living your life the way that you choose and that's what is important.

Keep trying to make it though the idiots at your school and always remember to hold your head up high because you are who you are. And, as one ex-purple haired misfit to another "misfit", I'll be rooting for you.