Harvey Morton, an entrepreneur and podcast host from Sheffield, has shared his experiences with bullying as a child.
The 24-year-old was born prematurely, impacting his hand-eye coordination and speech.
Harvey told The Drop: “People have felt it acceptable to make fun of my limitations and to mimic my voice as a means of shaming me.
My reaction to footballs and other objects flying towards me caused entertainment to other students and this went on for a number of years.”
The bullying started for Harvey when he was 11 and it continued right through secondary school and into sixth form.
He said: “I was very nervous and fragile as a result of all the bullying I had experienced. I was never one to contribute to class discussions when it was at its worst, and I could barely speak in front of the class.
“I also made YouTube film reviews while I was in school – these videos were found and others would print photos of me and draw on me in the toilets. They would also mimic my voice.”
Harvey remembers one of his most painful experiences with bullying during what was meant to be an enjoyable school trip to Alton Towers.
He said: “I was excited to go around the park exploring with the same people that I’d enjoyed the trip with during the previous year.
“One of the students in the group led me down a quiet path in the Alton Towers Gardens and pushed me over before running off.
“There weren’t any other people around and obviously I was really upset that the group had come together to ditch me in this awful way.
“What was meant to be a nice day turned into a really difficult one and I just wanted to go home.”
Thankfully, Harvey had people to reach out to when the bullying was at its worst.
He said: “There were a number of teachers in my school who became my cheerleaders and offered a listening ear when I needed it – especially my form teacher. My family were always there for me too.
“My form teacher would work with me on confidence building techniques and allowed me to chat to her for as long as I needed to about everything I was going through.
“Eventually it became easier to ignore, and other students started to gain more respect for me as I experienced success with my business – which started to cancel out the bullies.”
As a way of channelling his frustrations, Harvey set up his own IT support business at age 15 through a school enterprise competition.
The podcast host said: “This caused a lot of jealousy amongst those who had bullied me after I had started to experience success with this.”
Harvey has since made a successful career in digital consulting and podcasting, winning the 2018 IPSE National Young Freelancer award.
He said: “I actually always wanted to work in radio as a presenter, and still do, but as a result of others mimicking my voice and due to what response I’d had to my YouTube film reviews, I diversified my career into marketing.
“Only in recent years have I started to pursue a career in radio again through trying to raise my profile as an entrepreneur which in turn has brought a number of brilliant opportunities in this area.”
Harvey wanted to share his story during Anti-Bullying Week after a recent report revealed that one in four children experience frequent bullying .
He said: “Anti-Bullying Week is so important for raising awareness. It’s a reminder that so many are united with you in the battle to stop bullying.
“If we all reach out with kindness to others, then this will eventually quieten those who seek to make us unhappy.”
You can listen to Harvey’s podcast here.
