I think so. [trigger warning -- abusive words, etc]
I think that if it wasn't for the violence and bullying I would have had much in common with my tormentors.
I had an opportunity once to talk, briefly in private, with the kid who was ultimately responsible for sending me to the hospital. He was one of the few black kids at our school of mostly white upper-middle class kids. He was also a foster kid and lived in a home with a violent foster father. I don't even remember if he apologized or not. I just remember being struck by how much we did have in common: I spent my teenage years living with my single, mobility-challenged mother and had escaped a very abusive household. We never spoke again and if I ever saw him around he just went back to his old behavior: spitting at me, cursing, calling me a faggot; so we just learned to avoid one another after that.
I think that if it wasn't for the violence and bullying I would have had much in common with my tormentors.
I had an opportunity once to talk, briefly in private, with the kid who was ultimately responsible for sending me to the hospital. He was one of the few black kids at our school of mostly white upper-middle class kids. He was also a foster kid and lived in a home with a violent foster father. I don't even remember if he apologized or not. I just remember being struck by how much we did have in common: I spent my teenage years living with my single, mobility-challenged mother and had escaped a very abusive household. We never spoke again and if I ever saw him around he just went back to his old behavior: spitting at me, cursing, calling me a faggot; so we just learned to avoid one another after that.