Ask Sam letter

Asker

To Sam

Humiliated

Hiya,
Tonight, there was an end of year awards ceremony at school. I got an award.,which made me proud, but every few awards, there'd be a performance. Me and a friend were selected to do a comedy sketch. As the performance approached. me and my friend were petrfied, we were worried it was going to go wrong. It did.
We were meant to make the audience laugh and enjoy themseles, but we got one small giggle at one joke, and a yawn at one point. The rest was just awkward silence. We had half of our year group watching too, including someone who bullies me. It felt so embarrasing, and my friend was really humiliated as was I. What makes it worse is the bully is going to pick on me lots tomorrow at school. I'm really dissapointed with what happened and the embarressment is a horrible feeling. Please help :(
Ask Sam

Sam

Hi there,

Congratulations on receiving an award. It takes a lot of work and dedication to receive awards at school so it’s definitely something you should be proud of. 
It took a lot of courage to get up and perform, especially as you were petrified about doing it. I know the performance didn’t go as well as you would have liked and I can understand why you feel embarrassed with your year group watching. When things don’t go to plan, it’s normal to feel disappointed.

It’s wrong for anyone to pick on you or to bully you. It would be a good idea to speak to a teacher about this so they can help make this stop. Schools should have an anti-bullying policy and will want to know what has been happening so they can help.

You’re right, embarrassment is a horrible feeling and it can be hard to cope with.  Sometimes it can help to laugh or make a joke of the situation. This can relieve embarrassment as it lets others know that you can see the funny side. It also might encourage others to open up about their own embarrassing moments – everyone has them!

You could also try to play down or ignore what happened as this can stop you from blushing or feeling as embarrassed. Remember that even though you felt this was really awkward and humiliating other people might not have noticed.

Talking about how you feel can help. Try talking to a friend or adult who you trust. You can also check out the message boards to see how other people cope with embarrassment

Remember you can also speak to a ChildLine counsellor.

Take care,
Sam

Need help straight away?

You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.

Ask me a question

You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.

Write me a letter