Stories
Current Category: Students Taking Action
Bullying Hurts
Posted: 2/15/2019
When one of their friends was the target of bullies, 8th graders Nadia, Caelin, Josh, Brian and Carl, didn’t want to just sit by and watch it happen. They stood up for their friend and supported her when she was tormented both online and in school. The entire situation left them all angry and frustrated, so they decided to use that energy to do something good. They came up with the idea to sell wristbands during their school’s “No Name Calling Week” and donate the money that they raised to an organization that educates and tries to help prevent bullying. Their message? A simple “Bullying Hurts.”
They decided what the wristbands would say and look like, researched bullying prevention organizations to donate the proceeds to, designed posters to hang up at school, created an Instagram “ad” so they could tell their friends, packaged up the wristbands and sold the bands over three days during lunches at their school, as well as at the local skating rink.
These students raised $373.00 for PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center while learning how to work together toward their goal to end bullying and in the process gained amazing friendships that will last a very long time.
Be a Friend, Bring a Friend, Make a Friend
Posted: 2/10/2019
For her 11th birthday party, Anistyn thought big…and kind! Anistyn held a Be a Friend, Bring a Friend, Make a Friend party, to which she invited everyone in her middle school for music, dancing, and food – all created by kids and teens! Anistyn remembers her mom telling her that for every one mean person, there are ten more that are nice. So Anistyn made the theme of her party: “When we stand together, no one stands alone.” About a new friend who has a disability, Anistyn writes, “No one was laughing at Estelle or making fun of her when she got on stage and sang along. We had fun helping her and being nice to her. This was one of my favorite parts of the entire night because I realized how fun it is to be friends with people who are different.” To top it all off, Anistyn gave up her birthday presents this year in order to donate to PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. She and her friends raised over $1,300 to help kids who have been bullied! Read more.
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No Bullying Today
Posted: 2/5/2019
My name is Scott Smith, I have Aspergers and I'm proud of it. It makes me special, as all kids are. Last year, when I was in Grade 5, I started an anti bullying club at Belfountain Public School. I also involved local businesses and the community. Sadly because of having Aspergers I would get bullied at school. Many other kids get bullied as well. I started the club to help all kids that were getting bullied. With the help of some of my classmates, my Principal, and my family we quickly had a website, and raised money to buy anti bullying t shirts. We sold 200 t shirts using to profits to bring in groups to the school and talk to us about bullying. The Club got a lot of attention, we have had inquiries from other Schools in Ontario, United States and even Australia.
Every student at Belfountain, signed a pledge not to bully making our School the only bully free school in Ontario.
Kids with Autism or Aspergers all have good ideas. You just have to make them happen!!
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Unbreakable Movement
Posted: 2/1/2019
When she was 15, Sarah Ball was cyberbullied by several close friends. This experience caused a lot of emotional pain, but Sarah turned her pain into passion for helping others. She now travels the country speaking to groups of students, parents, and teachers about bullying and how to prevent it. She wants to make sure every student knows they are not alone and that they are strong.
Sarah writes:
I guess once you’ve felt all the pain and torment you don’t want anyone else to feel that way, not even those who put you through all of it. It’s a bitter loneliness, that slowly sprawls through your body into an immense depression. It took a lot of me to crawl out of it, but it took almost nothing to know that I had to do something to help others. Bullying isn’t just words on a page, it’s not just a voice being used to harm someone, it’s a misfortunate and devastating event someone goes through. The world can believe that people “fall in love” online, people make a fortune creating new social sites to “find your mate”. However when the opposite happens online, when people show hate online to someone, and that person becomes enormously affected by it, the mass don’t understand.
Imagine losing someone you truly love, and never being able to feel them close to you. Bullying is extremely similar, except you lose a piece of yourself that you can never get back. However, getting myself back together seemed impossible until the idea of helping others came to mind. Unbreakable was built after I was cyberbullied when I was in high school by those closest to me. My life was in complete disarray. I never thought Unbreakable would help me, I was too individually weak to see that. I was on “versus sites” that were created by peers, some my childhood friends created, begging for people to attack me even saying “no light punches”. There was so many of these versus sites in my county, literally hundreds of my peers were on there, all with hate and ridicule being poured out on them. I took copies of these sites and sent them to anyone who would listen to show what peers in my county were doing online. It worked, my voice although weak to me was strong in the county. And Unbreakable grew, branched out.
I wanted to protect those without a voice, show them they have a way out. I love to see the hope in a person’s eye when you tell them they are never alone, strengthening someone’s voice when they felt they couldn’t speak. It’s almost just that simple. Giving words of kindness, spreading awareness, and sharing hope with others really make all the difference. We as humans hate the feeling of being alone, so all we have to do is be there for one another! Loneliness and rejection are the worst feelings someone can go through, and in order to wipe out those feelings we have to show support to one another. Showing public support to victims of bullying is a huge way to let bullies know that victims do not stand alone.
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Together We Can Be a Sign of Hope
Posted: 1/30/2019
When Jacob Law’s mom, Tina, heard that he wanted to get involved with Unity Day, she thought all she was going to do was buy him a t-shirt. But Jacob had a much bigger plan in mind. Jacob gathered a group of students at his high school in Delaware (Joe, Shannon, Cathryne, Vanessa, Delvin, and Steven) who were all passionate about bullying prevention and set about creating a community-wide Unity Day event. Soon the whole town was involved. From petitioning his school to allow the event to making ribbons to hand out at a football game to inviting local businesses to participate, Jacob’s efforts on Unity Day were truly inspirational. When Jacob delivered a speech after receiving a proclamation from the mayor declaring October 9th Unity Day for the entire city, he demonstrated the true spirit of Unity Day – bringing people together to end bullying.
As part of his speech, Jacob said:
Not too long ago, there was a day when I was walking down the hall and some kids grabbed my backpack and threw me to the ground. One of my teachers was there for me that day.
I bet if you asked her, she would tell you she made sure I was okay and spent a few minutes talking with me about what happened.
But my story is a little different. Yes, she did do those things but she also did something much greater… she showed me what it felt like to have someone stand up for you. She showed me what a difference it makes to not feel alone, and she showed me the kind of person I wanted to be.
Bullying effects kids across our nation every day. Kids are afraid to go to school, participate in clubs or activities and may not even want to leave their home.
I believe that together we can lead the movement against bullying and it begins with each and every one of us standing up and showing our support on October 9th, proudly by wearing orange.
Together we can be a sign of hope and victims will know they are not alone.
Just as my teacher stood up for me that day, I will stand up for each and every one of them.
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Bullying Prevention Through Song and Dance
Posted: 1/25/2019
Irene Henderson of Eagan, MN knows what it feels like to be bullied. She knows how alone it can make someone feel. So with the help of her mom and her dance studio, Irene created a campaign to show others that they didn’t have to go through what she did alone. She gathered dancers and parents at her studio, decorated lavishly with orange, to share her story and invite everyone to sign a bullying prevention pledge. Irene has also written a song, “Bully,” about her experience and performed it for her fellow dancers. Then Irene taught everyone some simple choreography to her song. This event truly brought people together and encouraged students to include others so no one feels alone.
Irene writes:
I couldn't help it and my mom said it was okay because I cried during my speech. I think I touched so many hearts after I heard the feedback from my fellow dancers, especially from this little girl who ran out bursting into tears because my story related to hers. She has been bullied and told nobody.
I started by showing them the rope in my hand while I advocated my story and passed the rope to everybody so that they could tie a knot in it. This symbolized strength and unity. I will have the rope with me at every event and I am going to present it to them and I know that I have sent the message to those people who tie a knot in the rope.
As I shared my story, tears started to run down my face and everybody was quite. Suddenly, one of the girls ran out and later on I found out that she started crying because my story related to hers and she did not tell anyone about it. It was touching and I promised her that I would be there for her.
Read more about Irene’s event.
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Stop Bullying, by Jhorielle
Posted: 1/20/2019
First-grader Jhorielle learned about bullying during a Town Hall meeting at her school. She immediately went home and drew a picture that invited her friends to sign up to stop bullying with her. With her mom’s help, she made a website to encourage other kids to stop bullying and started handing out pencils and stickers to spread her message. She says that she made the website because she “wants every child to know how to stop bullying and to learn how to be nice instead of being mean.”
Jhorielle writes: “I learned about Bullying during our Town Hall meeting at school. I already knew about bullying but I really did not know I could do something about it…I asked my Mama how there can be a lot of me all over the world so I can help stop bullying there, too. She said I can’t really do that. But she told me I could make a website where everyone can sign-up to help stop bullying…I made a sign-up to have my friends at school join me in my ‘program.’ My first day, I got 6 names!...What I really want to do is have a lot of kids sign-up and learn more about Bullying.
I want to stop bullying because it’s not cool and it hurts other kids. I want to make an anti-bullying website because I don’t like bullying. I want to make this website because I want every child to know how to stop bullying. I want the kids to stop every bully. I want kids to teach bullies to be anti-bullying warriors so that they can be good for their whole life. I want to help kids learn how to be nice instead of being mean.” Read the rest of Jhorielle’s letter.
Visit Jhorielle’s website: www.stopbullyingbyjhorielle.webs.com
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“Keep Your Eyes Open” Bullying Prevention PSA
Posted: 1/15/2019
"Keep Your Eyes Open" is an bullying prevention PSA with a unique positive message. The video shows the bystander effect and how you can help others - and maybe even change the path for someone caught up in bullying behavior. At our school, Pima Elementary, we recognize that many people are challenged by bullying everyday and sometimes they just need a little help. By being a better bystander, we can raise the expectations for behavior at school, in our community, and become positive influences for one another on a regular basis.
The video came together in March of 2013 during the last day of Spring Break. It was inspired by the imagery of the song "Eyes Open," by Taylor Swift, and the idea that dancing and staying confident in yourself can inspire others. Approximately thirty students, teachers, and parents met at the school and filmed several scenes under the hot Arizona sun. Additionally, all of the camera work, editing, and sound production was volunteered by parents and adults connected to the school, making it a complete community effort. The students in the video all worked very hard and learned both what it takes to make a video, and what it's like to be recognized as a school leader. Throughout the entire project, from the video footage to the recording of the song in a studio, the students were given an opportunity to make a difference in their community by taking an active role.
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Think Before You Type (TBYT)
Posted: 1/10/2019
Lauren and Victoria Coaxum are teen sisters and the co-founders of Think Before You Type (TBYT). They were inspired to start TBYT last summer after seeing a lot of cyberbullying on the internet, specifically on Twitter. The girls were bothered by the negative effect that it had on others, so they decided to do something about it. TBYT is an anti-cyberbullying and positive self-esteem campaign with hopes of becoming a nonprofit. Its mission is to raise awareness about cyberbullying, promote positive self-esteem, and encourage young people to use the internet for good.
This past winter, TBYT’s Weekly Dares became a major part of the campaign. Every Sunday a video is posted on YouTube in which young people are challenged to do something to help themselves or their community, whether it’s over the internet or in the real world. These dares aren’t anything huge. They’re just little reminders of how simple it is to have a positive impact on those around you. The goal is to get others, specifically young people, involved in order to help them see the positive impacts of their choices and how great of a tool the internet can be when it’s used in the right way.
This summer, Lauren and Victoria decided to change-up the format of the dares. They’re calling them TBYT’s Summer Dares. The actual challenges will be the same as the rest of the year, but this time there will be prizes and guests in each video, so it’s actually a contest! Just for the summer, these dares are bi-weekly, so there will be plenty of time for people to complete them. The girls made a video explaining the contest, and they’re hoping that people will be inspired to enter and do something positive for those around them.
Lauren and Victoria are both students. Lauren will begin her second year of college in the fall of 2013, and Victoria will be a junior in high school. In cofounding TBYT and inspiring others to promote positivity, they’ve realized that their plans of becoming doctors and this current campaign are very closely aligned. They really enjoy helping people!
You can find TBYT at:
thinkbeforeyoutypecampaign.wordpress.com
facebook.com/thinkbeforeyoutype
youtube.com/tbytcampaign
twitter.com/powerofwords_
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Kaitlyn K — Sharing Her Talents to Help Prevent Bullying
Posted: 1/5/2019
Kaitlyn K wrote and produced the bullying prevention song ‘Who Do U Think U R?’, which her school made into a very successful lip-dub video of the same name. The video has received national and international recognition. The song is also up for the top 10 song in Australia.
She also recently released the single “I’ll Be the One,” which is about being there for someone when they are feeling alone. Kaitlyn also just completed a PSA “Bystander Stop the Bullying” for the Girl Scout Gold Award PSA.
Visit Kaitlyn on her website at: Kaitlyn.com
Her Song 'Who Do U Think U R?’ is available on iTunes at: KaitlynK on iTunes
Song Performed By: Kaitlyn K
Song written by: Kaitlyn K/T.Y Songs
Portion of proceeds from song downloads will benefit PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center at PACER.org/bullying.
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