Dear Peers | Teen Ink

Dear Peers MAG

August 6, 2008
By Sitav GOLD, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Sitav GOLD, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
17 articles 1 photo 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I studied every thing but never topped.... But today the toppers of the best universities are my employees" --Bill Gates


Dear Peers,

I used to look up to you. I used to try to get your attention. I used to want to fit in by wearing weird clothes and listening to all the lies you’d tell me. I used to laugh at jokes that weren’t funny. I used to let you copy off my tests. I used to want to be like you.

Dear Peers,

I used to get very upset when you started a rumor about me. I used to cry about it. I used to try to defend myself. I used to raise my voice, and when you didn’t listen, it would ruin my day.

Dear Peers,

I used to get angry when you cursed at me, when you cornered me and made up lies. I used to get mad when I walked into class and saw your scowls. I used to curse you back.

Dear Peers,

I used to hate the way you looked at me, as though I was less than you. I hated the way you talked about my ethnicity. It wasn’t funny. I used to insult you under my breath for being so narrow-minded. I used to tell the teachers and you’d call me a snitch.

Dear Peers,

I used to ignore what you said to me. I used selective hearing, which you called a “big word.” I stopped listening to your senseless language, without meaning, without dignity. I stopped watching you stoop lower and lower for your own self-satisfaction. And I opened my eyes.

Dear Peers,

I used to feel sorry for you. I felt bad because you couldn’t see the meaning in everything, in the little things, and in the things that mattered the most. No, you only saw dating, clothes, cliques, and texting as life, as fun, as a future. It broke my heart.

Dear Peers,

I used to laugh at you. I thought it was so funny how you would make fun of me for getting an A while you got an F. I used to spaz at the way you still couldn’t read the word complementary in the seventh grade and how you would throw library books in the garbage can. I used to smile when you talked about how great your seventh boyfriend was. And, I’ll admit, I still laugh now.

Dear Peers,

Feel free to say what you want. Feel free to do what you want. Go ahead! Make up a rumor about my secret ­Internet boyfriend. Tell everyone I’m a retard who thinks the whole world is made up of textbooks and teachers. Throw paper balls at my head while I’m reading. Shoot me with pieces of buttered bagel at lunch. And then tell me what you got out of that. Superiority? Was it fun? Do you think I’m suddenly dumber now? Has my smile gotten duller? Does my family love me any less? Did my teachers stop appreciating having me in their classes? Did I lose any inspiration? Well … I’m ­waiting.

Exactly.



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This article has 106 comments.


on Dec. 16 2021 at 5:45 pm
ILiveToRead PLATINUM, Wailuku, Hawaii
24 articles 3 photos 150 comments
You are truly strong for learning that what they thought didn't matter. Something that a lot of teens struggle with. Something that I used to struggle with. Something I still find my self sometimes struggling with. But I've grown and matured and you have grown and matured. And in the end you saw that in all actuality you had everything to be proud of and realized that what they were doing to you didn't gain anything on their part, or diminish anything on yours. Well done my friend.

on Oct. 26 2013 at 12:15 am
UndiscoveredWriter BRONZE, Mtvernon, New York
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
" Life is Like a blow of wind it can come and it can dont watse what you have or let it go"

You are so articulate , Your words can really help someone thats dealing with peer pressure so as yourself and i want to also add that you standed up up for whats right .

on Jul. 9 2013 at 2:42 am
AdrianaMartinez SILVER, Goose Creek, South Carolina
7 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
Carpe Diem .

I loved how you not only took one topic to talk about, but took several of them and talked about each one. I think a lot of people can relate to your work because it's something that everyone faces sooner or later. The only thing that seperates us from them, is how we react to it. The ending coouldn't have said it any better. I really enjoyed reading your piece.

on Oct. 13 2012 at 6:09 pm
Novelist123 BRONZE, Buffalo Grove, Illinois
3 articles 7 photos 26 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Dreams, goals, ambitions - these are the stuff man uses for fuel."
L. Ron Hubbard
US author & science fiction novelist (1911 - 1986)

You've done something I've wanted to do for a long time, and you really hit it right on the dot. Thanks for sharing what everyone was thinking.

on Jun. 29 2012 at 10:11 am
swcricket98 GOLD, Williamson, Georgia
13 articles 17 photos 102 comments

Favorite Quote:
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

As one of those 'smart' and 'weird' girls at school, I can really relate to what you are portraying. Although my case is not as bad because I do have friends, I hope that there will come a day where all insecure girls, including myself, will come to the point at which they can think the last message you wrote to themselves whenever a peer is wrong to them.

lou205 BRONZE said...
on Jun. 7 2012 at 1:46 pm
lou205 BRONZE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
\"Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.\" William Henry Channing.

i love it!! great job!!

by the way, i relate to what you're saying a lot!!


on May. 24 2012 at 3:59 pm
NoelleAina SILVER, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
6 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
There are, in nature, neither rewards nor punishments, there are consequences. ~Robert G. Ingersoll.

I love this piece! It's so honest and raw and I can relate to it so well! Please continue writing!

TTTeeSS GOLD said...
on May. 16 2012 at 7:15 am
TTTeeSS GOLD, La Porte, Colorado
17 articles 6 photos 69 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is no such thing as nothing, yet there is such thing as nothing, simply because there is nothing such as nothing.

Wow. That makes me think. I've ever known a few people who were anywhere near that, but it still made me think.

on Apr. 10 2012 at 5:05 pm
pandagirl312 GOLD, Leawood, Kansas
19 articles 1 photo 91 comments
I loved how this piece was written--like a whole bunch of little letters. : ) nicely done.

on Apr. 2 2012 at 7:39 am
MiaUnwritten GOLD, West Palm Beach, Florida
11 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Let the eyes seek what the mind cannot
Let the eyes judge what the mind cannot
Let the eyes believe what the mind failed to"

awesome, very touching

asofnow GOLD said...
on Mar. 11 2012 at 8:40 pm
asofnow GOLD, Troy, Michigan
18 articles 0 photos 208 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing gold can stay ~ Robert Frost

That was really like me.. before I moved. But the thing was, rumors did start about me, and I despised them. Sometimes I still think back, do they regret it, but honestly, I doubt it!

bookcub1998 said...
on Mar. 11 2012 at 8:10 pm
bookcub1998, Boston, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

wow that was really good. I felt so bad in the beginning but at the end i laughed that was a really goooooood ending. :)

 


Sitav GOLD said...
on Feb. 18 2012 at 5:54 pm
Sitav GOLD, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
17 articles 1 photo 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I studied every thing but never topped.... But today the toppers of the best universities are my employees" --Bill Gates

Hey guys! I wrote this when I was 13 and will be 17 in a few months. If you do like my writing please check out my column at the VCG Times. Google "Sitav Nabi Verona Cedar Grove. Thanks!

on Dec. 15 2011 at 4:42 pm
Deej6595 BRONZE, Billerica, Massachusetts
3 articles 0 photos 369 comments

Favorite Quote:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Thank you for writing this article. I feel as if every letter to the peers was things that had gone throgh my mine at some point. This is my life and the life of many others and I am glad you are using writing as a healthy vehicle to vent your frustration so thank you again and remember that we are better than those people who still can't prounounce complementary :)

Imagine SILVER said...
on Dec. 14 2011 at 11:15 pm
Imagine SILVER, Greenwood, Indiana
7 articles 9 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A thing is not neccessarily true because a man dies for it."

I felt as though this letter, while representing an all-too-true and all-too-common problem with peers, lacked interesting word choice and creativity. It's a nice basis and creative format, but I would tap into you poetic side for some alliteration and vivid wording. Best of luck! :]

on Dec. 14 2011 at 9:59 pm
Lalalovable SILVER, Antioch, California
7 articles 1 photo 50 comments
This is really great!You expressed emotion very well... sometimes you just got to create an island where only u and the important people matter:)

Katie-jo said...
on Dec. 14 2011 at 4:09 pm
Katie-jo, Triangle, Virginia
0 articles 0 photos 61 comments
This is amazing! I love the way it's set it up. I really needed this when I was younger...

Kalyn92 BRONZE said...
on Dec. 7 2011 at 6:16 pm
Kalyn92 BRONZE, Forest City, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you have nothing, you have nothing to lose."

This is so great! Takes me back to middle school days.

on Dec. 1 2011 at 6:57 pm
shapeshifter56 GOLD, Cave Creek, Arizona
14 articles 0 photos 136 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Instead of waiting for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain."
--Unknown Author

This is great! I love how you show your different perceptions of these people throughout the piece. You are a phenomenal writer!

on Nov. 27 2011 at 3:21 pm
Labradorian PLATINUM, Chicago, Illinois
34 articles 0 photos 52 comments

Dear Author:

Oh, that made me grin. It reminded me so much of myself, my school experiances. I really loved how you sepporated the story into individual letters as the story evolved. It gave it flavor. I still can't stop grinning. iI loved it.