Real Teens Speak Out

Chatari’s Courage

Chatari Jones, a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy whose father made national headlines when he boarded a Florida school bus to defend her against bullying, spoke out publicly in the Orlando Sentinel to help other students who are being bullied. "Thank you so much for bullying me, because it taught me a lesson about disabled kids," Chatari said in the article. "We are disabled for a reason." Her father, James Jones, said Chatari’s ordeal at the hands of bullies who spit in her hair and called her names, often sparked by her disability, has given her the courage to speak nationally and publicly about the taunts children under similar circumstances suffer at school.

"We are trying to turn around what happened on that bus," her father said. "My daughter can now stand up for others."

Don’t Bully, Be A Friend

Pete Scampavia, a young man with multiple disabilities, completed this bullying prevention video "DON’T BULLY, BE A FRIEND" as his Eagle Scout project. Pete wanted the message to be from kids to kids because "Sometimes we just don’t want to listen when adults go on and on about something."
 
This video is near and dear to Pete’s heart. "I did my Bullying Prevention project because I was tired of my friends getting bullied. So I decided do a video on how to stop bullying".The message of the video is to ask you, the bystander, to act when you see someone being bullied. In other words, the bystander has a choice to make: Don’t bully, be a friend. Pete’s friends, fellow scouts, and volunteers from the Arc of Northern Virginia stepped in as actors in this video, with professional assistance from the Arlington Media Center of Arlington Public Schools.

In Memory of Brad

Kody has brought awareness to bullying by collecting signatures at local businesses, making posters and t-shirts, handing out PACER bookmarks, and notifying courts and schools about bullying. Kody has done all this in memory of his best friend, Brad, who after being bullied for years, died at the age of 13 from completion of suicide.

Peer Advocacy

During the 2009-10 school year, 15 seventh graders from Watertown Mayer Middle School addressed the issue of bullying head on. This "peer advocate" group, which included students in special education, collaborated to speak out about bullying, raise awareness of the issue, and make a difference in their school. The students received training from PACER Center on the issue, and were given tips about what to do if they saw another student in a bullying situation. "Bullying is an issue that affects so many students," said Julie Hertzog, PACER’s Bullying Prevention Project Director who assisted the group. "But when kids who see the bullying-the bystanders-step in, they can make a significant difference in reducing bullying."

In a survey of the peer advocates, all recommended that other schools adopt peer advocacy programs.  "This experience has open my eyes and changed the way I think about people," one student said.

Help Students Who Bully

Sabrina, a 12-year-old, has experienced both sides of the bullying issue. When she was nine, she was bullied relentlessly because of her speech impediment. By the time she was 11, she was bullying others. School staff took her aside and told her that she was physically hurting other students.  

"I denied it all, but the school officer convinced me that I really was bullying kids. She told me that if it didn’t stop, I would be arrested or kicked out of school, and that I needed help. I was kind of shocked," Sabrina says. "The officer gave me a reality check. First I was scared that I could go to jail and then ashamed that I hurt other kids."

There were several reasons why Sabrina bullied other students. "Some kids would irritate me. They would have something of mine or they would hit me," she says.  "I didn’t want to be known as a snitch, so I tried to deal with it myself and that was not a good plan." 
   
"Sometimes I was defending myself before they could hurt me. With other kids, I don’t know why I bullied them. Sometimes they would do something, and I didn’t know it was just an accident. For the majority of the bullying, I really was mad about other things and I took it out on other people" 

Sabrina wishes someone had taken her aside sooner and helped her to understand what she was doing. Talking with her school officer made all the difference. "She told me what other kids would feel like when they were bullied and that helped,"  Sabrina says. " She told me to not think about my feelings, but to think about their feelings." 

Now Sabrina has joined the bullying prevention movement and is sharing her experiences to help others. Here’s her advice for:

Students who bully
1. Think about what other people would be feeling. "I know people who bully for fun, but it’s only fun for them, not for anyone else," Sabrina says.
2. Think about what you’re doing and try to find help.

Adults
1. For kids who have been bullies, try not to judge them on what they’ve done in the past.  
2. For kids who are messing up, talk to them instead of telling them that they’re bad and sending them back to class. Help them understand why they are bullying.

Inspired By Her Sister

Jonna, a 7th grade student, is on the Teens Against Bullying Youth Leadership Board and sister to 6-year-old Amber, who was born with hydrocephalus—an excess accumulation of cerebral fluid in the brain—which has led to Amber living with very complicated medical issues and inspired Jonna to becoming an advocate, speaking out about issue that are important to her.

Jonna has been very active in bringing bullying awareness to her school in coordinating an awareness week, leading a petition signing event and speaking in front of parents and educators

Cyber vs. Physical

I have been cyberbullyed. It was AWFUL! For the first time in my life I was scared to go by a computer. I thought that was the worst time of my life. If I thought that was bad, I wonder what it’s like being physically hurt?

Adama

Bullied in middle school, Adama experienced firsthand how devastating bullying can be. Now, as a high school student, she has created a website for kids and teens to share/post their bullying stories, have resources for help and hopefully gain inspiration of how bullying made them a stronger person.

Christina!

In 6th grade, Christina participated in a year long focus group that was instrumental in designing the TeensAgainstBullying website. You might know her best as the girl on the home page, who says "this is the place".

BE STRONG – A Music Video

Hello! Me and a few friends have worked on a video to promote "Be Strong" and standing up to bullying.

"The truth is, some of us are strange sometimes, but no one deserves to be pushed around for what they like, or how they look, or what they believe in. My goal is to provide hope and strength and love to anyone and everyone who needs someone to lean on. Life is short so you’ve got to love what you’re given and never take anything for granted."