Blogpost#8: You can take everything I have, You can break everything I am

Depression

Depression

I completely remember how low my self-esteem was back in high school, it was horrible. I couldn't concentrate on my studies, I lost my appetite and my friends were already hurting seeing me the way I was going through with my problem. My grades were getting low and, for a year,  I thought that it was because of what was happening because of my bullies, then I was told that I was depressed. 

In an article I found written by Maia Szalavitz entitled "The Relationship Between Bullying and Depression: It's Complicated", from the website called www.healthland.time.com, according to her, children who are ostracised by their peers and bullied often become depressed, but new research suggest that the relationship may work the other way around as well: children's depressive symptoms in elementary school precede social victimisation and isolation later on. Previous studies that tried to work out whether bullying causes depression, or whether depressed kids become magnets for bullies -- or whether the two problems drive for each other -- have produced conflicting results. However, the new study found a clear path from depressive symptoms in 4th grade to being bullied in 5th grade and rejected more widely by peers in 6th grade. Researchers followed 486 children, gauging their symptoms of depression and their levels of social acceptance through confidential surveys filled out by parents, teachers and the kids themselves; the children rated themselves and their classmates. Most of the students were white, 16% were African American and 4% of Hispanic or mixed race. Half were from upper-middle-class or high-income families, a quarter were in the middle class and the rest were low income.  Maia said, "Even subclinical levels of depressive symptoms can undermine development of peer relationships and... intervention efforts should be aimed at minimising the adverse influence of depressive symptoms and associated deficits on these relationships." 

Another article I found entitled "Bullying, a red flag for depression" written by Beth J. Harpaz for the NBCbully" may conjure up images of a 9 year old punk shaking down a 7 year old for lunch money. But teenagers experience bullying, too, and research shows it can a red flag for depression and suicidal behaviour. A study of 2,342 high school students published in 2007 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry showed "a clear association" among bullying, depression, suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts. Among students who said they were frequently bullied in school, nearly 30 percent reported depression and 11 percent reported serious thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts. Among those who frequently bullied others in school, almost 19 percent reported experiencing depression and about 8 percent reported suicidal thoughts or attempts. There is a professor mentioned in the article named Madelyn S. Gold, she teaches psychiatry and public health at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute said, "If you are vulnerable and being bullied, it can be the straw that breaks the camel's back" Depression, for me, isn't one the easiest things to go through, I really think that it won't even let someone concentrate on what you are doing.

When you talk about someone being depressed, you often see people giving you this look, like they're not quite sure what to do or say, but, don't ignore them. Make eye contact, bring them food, give them a quick ring and listen to them telling them it's going to be okay -- until they are strong enough to say it to themselves. If you have a friend who is going through a tough time and you know who is depressed, make sure to listen to their problems because it can make their day a little bit better.

There is a blogger named Jerry Kennard,who writes for the Health Central website wrote an article called "Cyber Bullying and Depression in Children", according to the article, the effect on children of being bullied is always negative and is fully recognised as contributing to a variety of mental health problems like anxiety and depression as well as other behavioural issues. Most parents will be familiar with the trends and traumas of childhood. The prospect of being under the spotlight because you were different from other children was something to avoid at all costs. He said in the article, "As a parent, I become very familiar with the urgent and desperate need for the latest gadget, shoes, clothing or whatever. My daughter became the unfortunate victim of bullying of time ad despite the fact that she told us and then met it head on by speaking to the teachers, it was clear ow unsettled and unhappy she became." Depression isn't also caused by bullying face to face, it can also happen online. I used to have a friend who was cyber-bullied, for 4 weeks, she became really depressed and I got sad because this friend of mine has been my friend since we were kids. I helped her with her battle and, when I experienced it for myself, she was there for me as well.

I remember being told that High School was supposed to be the happiest years of my life but it was one of the darkest times of my life. I remember thinking seriously about suicide. I'm sure that would have been a shock to everyone if I had actually had done it. On the outside, I was outgoing and knew just about everyone's name in the school, but inside I was dying. I tried to hide my depression and wish that I could have enjoyed myself more. I was bullied so much I didn't want to go to school anymore because I knew that I'd be treated the same way everyday.

I also suffered cyber-bullying, I was named called and I hated it, when I got to school it's the same thing I hear, my batch mates would call me things I know about myself. An article called "School Bullying and Depression Linked in Adolescents", for the website called www.decodedscience.com, written by Shannon Webster. It says that bullying has become a hot topic in American society. State legislatures have passed anti-bullying laws attempting to crack down on the problem in schools, as social media sites have come under fire for cyber-bullying issues online, and parents have become more concerned with protecting their children from bullying everywhere. With so much attention focused on the after math of harassment, teasing, and even violence among kids, however, little has been paid to the potential causes of the behaviour. An assistant research professor at Arizona State University's School of Social and Family Dynamics named Dr. Karen Kochel said, "This study's main findings -- that depressive symptoms contributed to the development of peer relationship difficulties -- were unexpected given that the bulk of prior work supports the opposite direction of association. We certainly cannot rule that possibility that some forms of peer relationships contribute to depression among some samples of youth, or the possibility that depression and peer relationship problems are cyclically related. Out study result, however, do not provide support for these perspective." 

I saw this article written by Mike Nichols, entitled "Bullying Causes Anxiety Disorders -- and It's Not Just Kids!" for the website called www.anxietypanichealth. com, and it says that there are innumerable websites devoted to stopping bullying in schools. In addition, many studies have been done detailing the effects of bullying among young people. Adult bullying doesn't receive the same amount of press. But it has been found that the social form of bullying doesn't stop at childhood, but continues into adulthood. The same sorts of activities associated with childhood bullying are present in adults. There is an author mentioned in the article named Allison Dempsey and she said, "Even though people are outside of high school, the memories of these experiences continue to be associated with depression and social anxiety. It was interesting to see these relationships still continue to exist even though they are in early adulthood now and in a completely different setting. This is a real problem and continues to be a real problem after students leave school."

It starts with people making fun of others.the victims have their self-esteem go lower and it leads to depression. An article I found written by Susan Swearer called "Bullying and Depression" for the website called www.education.com, and it says that consequently, it is vital that parents and teachers become familiar with the signs of depression in youth and understand the facts that may be triggers for depressive symptoms in bullies, victims, ad bully-victims. Once the connection between bullying and depression is understood, individuals will be better prepared to select interventions that combat both bullying behaviours and depression. Susan said, "Victims of bullying are particularly at risk for experience depression. Victims have been found to do the following: they possess typically low self-esteem view themselves in a negative manner, which can ultimately lead to depression and it is associated with depression and unhappiness at school and low self-worth."

There are 3 types of depressive disorders, which are, Major Depressive Disorder(MDD), Dysthymic Disorder(DD) and Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified(D-NOS), I personally have been told that I have MDD are a period of depressed mood and loss of interest at least two weeks at a time. I thought at first it wasn't something but then someone saw that I had mood swings, and asked me if I was depressed I told her maybe. It really isn't the funnest thing to go through because I couldn't really concentrate on my studies and it really mad my friends worry.

Singing sensation Susan Boyle suffered lifelong depression, she was interviewed by Helen Lamont   for the Marie Claire magazine and the title of her article is "Susan Boyle: School bullying caused lifelong depression", Susan said, "It was psychological bullying and that leaves a scar. It also cultivates a lot of anger. When people are a wee bit slow others pick on them. My life was made an absolute hell. When I went on Britain's Got Talent I said, 'This is my chance to prove myself.' I can be up and down like a yo-yo. I can be depressed." 

Surround yourself with the people who care about you, also get the help that you need, it helps really. 

Blogpost#7:Take me somewhere only we know

Self-Harm

Self-Harm

I used to self harm when I was being bullied back in high school and I thought it was the right thing to do, so I kept on doing it. I kept cutting myself until I knew that I needed to stop and I knew that I wasn't the only who was hurting, the people who cared for me also hurt. All this time I was continuing to cut, I thought I was doing the right thing to myself. When I was being made fun of, the only thing I turned to was self-harm, at first, I was thinking of taking my own life, but then I realised that I had other dreams that, of course, I want to reach. It could really save someone's life if you could do just the smallest action to a person who is actually suffering from self-harm. 

Now, according to Mary Elizabeth Dallas, writer of "Bullied Kids More Likely to Self-Harm as Teens" for the website called www.webmd.com she wrote on her article that children who are bullied in elementary school are almost five times for likely to engage in self-harm by the time they are teenager, according to a new study. Dieter Wolke, professor at the University of Warwick, said, "The importance of this early intervention should not be understated. If we were able to eliminate bullying, while other exposures remained constant, there would be a potential to prevent 20 percent of all self-harm cases." From the same article, the researchers examined information on nearly 5,000 children who participated in a study based at the University of Bristol. Children were evaluated to determine if they had been bullied between the ages of 7 and 10. Years later, when children were 16 or 17, they were asked if they had engaged in self-harm. 

Rick Nauret PHD, who wrote "Being Bullied Increases Likelihood of Self-Harm" for the www.psychcentral.com it says that UK researchers from the University of Warwick, in association with colleagues at the University of Bristol, discovered that being bullied at primary school age can cause enough distress to significantly increase the risk of self-harming in later adolescence. Self-harm behaviours may stem from a desire to relieve tension or communicate stress, and in the most extreme cases may represent a suicidal intent in the individual. The study found that 16.5 percent of 16-17 year olds had self-harmed in the previous year, and 27 percent of these did so because they felt as though they "wanted to die." Those who were subjected to chronic bullying over a number of years at primary school were nearly five times more likely to self-harm six to seven years later in adolescence. Rick Nauret interviewed Professor Dieter Wolke of the University of  Warwick and he said, "It is further evidence for doing away with the myth that bullying at a young age can be viewed as a harmless rite of passage. I'd like to see clinicians routinely asking children about bullying - from name calling to more physical acts of abuse. The importance of this early intervention should not be understated. If we were able to eliminate bullying, while other exposures remained constant, there would be a potential to prevent 20 percent of all self-harm cases." 


Dealing with self-harm myself made me think that it was the only thing that was right, it made feel better about myself. Somewhere inside me knew that it was such a bad idea, but at the time I was being bullied and was made fun of, when it came to the point that I was so depressed, I self-harmed. I wasn't doing the right thing but then it somehow made me happy that I had blade in my hand, cutting my skin. It honestly wasn't the best feeling in the world to have something cut your skin especially the reason why you're doing it, it's because of the things that you are going through at school. It doesn't happen in school it also happens at home, kids go through such a tough at home, I know someone who lost her parents at a young age, she is going through a time at home and at school, she self-harms just get the attention of her siblings.

Demi Lovato, she's my role model and when she opened up at her self-harm, eating disorders and her bullying experience, she got help, and I thought that I needed it as well, so I started going to therapy and the school's guidance office, it really helped a lot. There's an article I found called "Famous Self-Injurers", which the author wasn't mentioned, and Demi was also in the article, based on the article that on April 19,2011 Demi opened up in an ABC News interview. Her family was aware of her issues with the eating disorders from early on but unaware that she had, at age eleven, begun cutting her wrists as a way to cope with her feelings. And she told ABC News, "It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body. I was matching the inside to the outside. And there were some times where my emotions were just so built up, I didn't know what to do. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on my self. " Self-harm is one of the things I had to go through when I was bullied, it wasn't the easiest thing to go through because cutting  is one of the things that can help you calm down, it's like a stress reliever. I stopped after I realised that the only people who can help me with my problems are my friends.

There are so many issues about self-harm between girls and boys, but mostly it happens to the girls, when girls experience bullying and when their bullies make fun of them, say something about their looks or weight, the victim will just walk away, but at home they will g
et whatever they use to cut themselves.

Anna Stone, writer for The Telegraph and who wrote "Self-harm: why would she cut herself?"which is posted in www.telegraph.co.uk she wrote this article based on her experience because her 15 year old daughter used to cut, according to her the news that more than 22,000 children and teenagers were treated in hospital for self-harming last year. Anna said, "When we discovered our 15 year old daughter was cutting herself, it was a total shock. Her adolescence had, like that of many girls, been a period of increasing turbulence - but self-harming never crossed my mind until Sophie rang up from the other side of London saying that a cut in her foot was hurting too much for her to come home by Tube and could she have a taxi? Yes, of course, we said. When Sophie got home, she was clearly unwell and I asked to see the cut. After a moment's hesitation, she took off her shoes. It was immediately evident that the wound was serious. After visiting the hospital we were invited for family therapy" I remember the time my parents about my self-harming issue, I was conscious about my scars because I thought my parents would think I did because influence, but then I was able to open to why I did. I told them my story on why I cut myself and I don't just cut myself, I also starve myself, which, I know, isn't the right to do.

There is a writer named Michelle Dean, who wrote "The Story of Amanda Todd", which can be found in www.newyorker.com, it says that the 15 year old Amanda Todd from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, decided to make last Wednesday the last day of her life, whether she expected that the act would turn into a household name. If she imagined her fame at all, she must have felt ambivalent at the prospect. In her short life, Todd had already learned that notoriety had a dark side. A certain kind of fame had already found her, and with it came a certain kind of life she plainly convinced herself that she couldn't escape. In Canada, where she lives, cyber-harassment is prosecuted under the general harassment provision of the Canadian criminal code. Whatever Amanda Todd might have been thinking, whatever else might be true, she did get one thing out of this: Amanda Todd did manage to, just once, tell her own story. She got to drown out the version of her that strangers had put out on the Web. It's a small comfort. But it was perhaps the only one she had left. A Gawker reporter named Adrien Chen said, "I identified a man named Michael Brutsch as one of the moderators of certain venal sub-threads on the 'social news' Web site Reddit. Some were dedicated to 'creepshots' & 'jailbait.' They functioned chiefly as vehicles for the delivery of pictures of young women, many of whom did not consent to either the taking of the photograph or this particular mode of dissemination" And I feel sorry for Amanda, I tried imagining myself in her shoes, I, of course, would feel very

Emma Innes, writer of "Soaring numbers of teenage girls are self-harming due to 'unprecedented toxic climate' they are growing up in.", the article can be found from the website called www.dailymail.co.uk, and according to Emma, in the last 12 months to June, there were 13,400 cases of self-harm among girls aged 15 to 19 that required hospital treatment - up to 12,220 in the previous year. The England-wide data, from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), also shows 4,000 cases of self-harm among 15 to 19 year old boys. The figures also showed boys were fare more likely to need treatment for assault than girls -- with 3,500 cases among 15 to 19 year olds during the same period -- down 24 percent from the 4,580 cases the previous year. Lucie Russell, Director of Campaigns and Policy at the charity Young Minds was mentioned in the article and she said that "Everyday we hear about the unprecedented toxic climate children and young people face in a 24/7 online culture where they can never switch off. Cyber-bullying and 'sexting', bleak employment prospects and a society obsessed with body image are creating a negative environment around children and young people. These findings must not be dismissed as simply an inevitable part of growing up." 

Charlie's Angels actress Drew Barrymore opened about her struggle with self-harm, it was that she used a butcher knife to cut her wrists and she said, "I know I'm not ugly but I don't think I'm a pretty girl. I'm very critical of myself, definitely. There's one thing about that I truly, truly hate. I hate my arms! I have really fat arms. And I self-harm myself for it." I don't do what Drew Barrymore does to her arms, I only do it when I suffer from the bullying that I get, but I do get her point, when m

y parents aren't around I remember what I had to go through that certain day, get the cutter and cut myself.

There are times where people self-harm because they want to fit in, but one of the reasons why  girls and boys cut it's because of the pain that they are going through. When I self-harmed, there was this girl who meant a lot to me and when she found out I liked her, she started to bully me but the worst thing about it is that her friends helped her with bullying me. Being the victim is obviously tough and it came to the point when I wanted to cut myself with a knife, I usually use a cutter, but I was so depressed, I didn't want to go to school anymore I wanted to use a knife. I learned my lesson, and I knew that it wasn't worth it, the pain I went through made into a better person.

Blogspot#6:I see through your eyes

Through a Bully's eyes

Through a Bully's eyes

You might think the bullies make fun of others just for fun, but they don't. These bullies need someone to listen to their problems because some of them might face such a terrible situation back at home, and I think, this is why they take their emotions with them and beat the hell out of someone who is an easy victim. Based on my experience, when I used to bully my friend back in 3rd grade, I thought that it was funny. I was going through a tough time back in 3rd grade and I thought that making fun of someone was the only thing that can make me feel better.

According to Raising Children Network, from the website called www.raisingchildren.net.au and the title of the article is called "Your child bullying others" and according to the article,you know your child is bullying if he or she talks about the other kids at school in an aggressive or negative way or your child has money, toys or other things that don't belong to them. They say that neither of these signs means your child is definitely bullying, but you might want to talk to your child's teacher to find out if there have been any problems at school. 

There are so many reasons why kids bully people they don't know and, especially, this happens mostly with girls, I really think they are insecure about the person, so that's why they bully them until the end of the school year. The bullies really make the victims miserable and I am here to talk about the topic called "When bullies get bullied by others: Understanding bully-victims" which was written by Gwen Dewar, Ph.D for the www.parentingscience.com and according to what I read in her article, kids who harass and intimidate others were once lumped together. But today, researchers have identified two different types of bully. The "pure" bullies are the confident aggressors, on the other hand, the "bully-victim" , by contrast, are both bullies and the victims of bullying. The only person I am going to talk about are the bully-victims, it says in the articlethat an international survey of 11 to 15 years old found that bully-victims experienced worse emotional adjustment in all 25 countries surveyed. 

When someone was bullied before and they are now bullying, there are so much reasons why they do what they do. I think the main reason why the previous victims bully now, it's because they want their bullies before to know how it felt like to made fun of, how it felt like when someone took your lunch money and all of those other reasons why their bullies bullied them for. The bully-victims also face family problems and when the kid sees their parents fight , they take it on someone else. 

There is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and Senior Associate Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children named Debra Pepler, she said that "Interventions must focus on the children who bully, with attention to their aggressive behavior problems, social skills, and social problem-solving skills. A focus on the child alone is not sufficient. Bullying is a relationship problem that requires relationship solutions by focusing on the bullying children's strained relationships with parents and risky relationships with peers. By providing intensive and ongoing support starting in the elementary school years to this small group of youth who persistently bully, it may be possible to promote healthy relationships and prevent their "career path" of bullying that leads to numerous social-emotional and relationship in adolescence and adulthood." People should give more attention to the bully-victims and the bullies, because they lack the attention that they need and they might need someone to listen to their problems.

If you are bullying someone just for fun, stop because it really isn't your time because one day you'll also be getting the taste of how it felt like to be bullied. It happened to me since 4th grade and I completely hated it because I thought I was going to die,but then I got through it and now that I am going to be talking about bully-victims and bullies because I ant to understand the true meaning on why bullied. 

There is an author named James Lehman, who wrote "The Secret Life of Bullies: Why They Do It -- and How to Stop Them" for the website called www.empowering children.com and he wrote that aggression can either take forms of violence or emotional abuse. Bullies use aggression, and some use violence and verbal abuse, to supplant those skills. So in effect, they don't have to learn problem solving, because they just threaten the other kids. They don't have to learn how to work things out because they just push their classmates or call them names. They don't have to learn how to get along with other people -- they just control them. The way they're solving problems is  through brute force and intimidation. So by the time that child reaches ten, bullying is pretty ingrained -- it has become their natural response to any situation whre they feel socially awkward, insecure, frightened, bored or embarrassed. 

According to Society for Research in Child Development ,for the Science Daily website,has an article called "Children who bully also have problems with other relationships." wrote that children who bully were found  to have conflict in relationships with their parents and friends, and also to associate with others who bully. Researchers looked at 871n students for seven years, beginning at age 10, and found that mot children engage in bullying at some point. The research underscores that bullying is a "relationship problem" that calls for interventions targeting the aggressive behavior, social skills, and problem-solving skills. and also on bullying children's strained relationships. 

I saw an article written by Dr. Chris Steer, consultant pediatrician and neurologist, he wrote "Bullying -- bully or bullied?" for the website called www.netdoctor.co.uk Dr. Chris wrote that your child may deny bullying, but parents don't tend to step in unless the situation is bad. The school will check first to see if it's true. Go through the school bullying policy with your child and make sure your child knows you love them, but not their behavior. He gave tips to the parents on what to if you have a child who bullies, he said if you have a younger child who bullies:

• Explain it's unkind and not fun.
• Get your child to realize how the victim feels by reminding your child of past hurts.
• Ask the school to supervise your child

And he also said that if you have an older child:

• Explain that bullying can cause severe unhappiness and can even lead to a self-harm attempt - does your child want to be responsible for someone becoming ill and unhappy?
• Ask how your child would feel in the victim's shoes and what he would want done.
• Teach your child how to resolve problems without violence.

There is a show called I Am Celebrity and one of the stars there named Amy Willerton, which I got from www.westerndailypress.co,uk and the title of the article is called "I'm a Celebrity Amy Willerton's dad backs the jungle bullies"  Amy, who bullied during the show, the other celerbrites called her "lazy", "spoiled" and "a cheat", and her fellow co-stars said that she only has herself to blame and needs to learn a lesson. Her co-stars said that she was too spoiled and that she was a pain in the arse because she wasn't a team player. One of her co-stars, Annabel Giles said that she treated  the rest of the star like they  were her servants.

I think  the bullies are the really problematic ones in the community because of what they go through at home and I really think that they should be listened to. Someone needs to listen to their problems before they even start to take their anger on someone. If you are going through something at home and it isn't the prettiest thing  to go through, my advice would write down your feelings because it is going to make you feel better about yourself one day, like it did with me. Being a bully-victim has its perks, but then there are disadvantages, when I started having problems at home I wanted to lash it on someone, it wasn't worth it so I started writing songs and it made me feel better.

Blogspot#5: Black is the new beauty

Racial bullying

Black is the new beauty

People who are from different races, they, themselves, get bullied for being different. I have seen in the news that there are a lot of people who use the "N" word against the African-Americans. When I moved to Manila from Texas, I was made fun of because of how white I was. For the first few years of studying here in the Philippines, I was bullied so bad that I ate inside the classroom. I had friend from the first term who was very insecure of her skin color and because she was darker than me, I told her that being black was the new beauty and I also told her that I wanted to be tanner, no matter what I did to go darker, I couldnt. 

According to one of the sites I found called www.bbc.co.uk, the writer of the article is Divya Talwar and the title of her article is called "Daily torment of racism in the classroom" and it says that there is a year 9 student named Khadeja Fahat and she studies in Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK and her education has suffered along with her mental health. She says "I was tormented nearly every day; I was scared to go to school. I used to go to school think: what am I going to face today? Is someone going to physically hurt me or shout something at me or throw something at me?'" It really isn't the nicest thing to do with someone from a different race.

Murray Wardrop, writer of "'Racist bullying destroyed family' mother of suicidal schoolgirl says." it says that there is a 15 year old boy who is facing the threat of a year and his victim, a 14 year old mixed race girl tired to take her own life by swallowing a cocktail of pills after he waged a 6 month campaign of telling her to go back to her own country and that she didnt belong there. 

There is , I think, one reason why others bully people who come from a different race, maybe, just maybe, that they are just jealous. As someone who comes from an interracial family, all my life I was bullied because my dad has dark skin and my mom as white skin, they are very happy together and I just wish everyone would see the beauty of knowing someone who has different skin tone.

Paula Deen, a chef, who onced used the word "N" apologized for saying the word and says that she doesn't really mean saying the word. She apologized in ann interview with NBC,which can be found in www.nbcbayarea.com according to the article, that her confession to lawyers in a race bias case against her that she has used the N-word numerous times before she was greeted with the horror by her fans, and by her long-time home, the Food Network.  

Be careful with what you say because it can really hurt someone's feelings. I have done that in the past, but when I did that someone they forgive me easily because when I say sorry to them, I really mean it. When you see someone from not around the area, make sure that you keep it yourselves because if they hear it, they might get hurt because of what you said. I have friends who are very insecure of their skin color and now, they accept themselves, I tell them that they should be happy with the skin tome that was given to them and that they should tell themselves that they are beautiful in every way.

According to Vinti Singh, writer of "Kid bullied to leave school because he wasn't 'black enough'"for the www.ctpost.com said that a 12 year old boy named Ryan Rodriguez was bullied because he wasn't black enough, he was stabbed in the back with a mechanical pencil and there was no explanation or anything. There was reason why he was stabbed for no reason, he comes from a half-white and half Puerto Rican parents and he is also being name called like "stupid white cracker"

An article written by a Daily Mail reporter and the title of the article is "Racist BNP teenager convicted of playground race taunts after pushing girl to brink of suicide." and it says that the girl moved schools just to avoid racist abuse- was called c**n, N****r, gorilla and golliwog by her tormentor. From the same article, there is a prosecutor named Raymond Wildsmith told Lincoln Youth Court insults happened again and again and again -- anything up to four times a week. My opinion on this article is that nobody deserves to be treated in such because someday it will get back to you and it isn't worth your time bullying someone with different color. 

There are a lot of celebrites who are very racist and I would like to share to you one quote that I think is very offensive, it is Paris Hilton that said "we are like two N**as" It really is offensive, especially when you are around black people, you shouldn't really things when you are around people you are talking about. There are so much celebrities who say offensive things against other races, and I have seen in twitter and in tumblr, comments about people respecting other races. 

I really think that we should start respecting them because they were made way different than us and we can't really expect them to be like us. Martin Luther King jr. even said in his  I Have A Dream speech "I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls would be walking with white girls and boys." I really agree with him because if God didn't make other races then why are they walking with us? I also have a dream that one day people will start respecting others for who they really are. 

Blogspot#4: I close my eyes and pray.

Religion

Religion

Having a different religion doesn't really change anyone or whatever belief they have. It makes them into who they are today. I was rasied as a Christian-Catholic, but since I heard about issues against the Church, I decided that I believed in God but didn't believe in the Church. I still go to Mass every Sunday, I still do the things every person who believes in Jesus Christ, but I don't read the Bible, that's the only thing that I don't do. It never changed my beliefs, but I was bullied for it, and I never really got the reason I was being bullied. I know a lot of people who do the same thing as I do and others are completely okay with it. 

According to Sabrina Holcomb, writer of "Muslims in America: When Bullying Meets Religion", wrriten for www.muslimsmatter.org and according to the article that there is a Debate team champion, Autena Torbati, had a teammate who announced to class that he would have "liked Hitler better if had he killed all the Muslims, instead of Jews. Remember, the Holocaust started with words before ending in gas chambers." And according to the article that in Autena's case, bullying has been confined to verbal taunts, threatening gestures, and an anti-Muslim opinion piece in the school newspaper. But for the other Muslim students, verbal assults have escalated into physical abuse, as anti-Islamic sentiment sweeps the nation. Bullying is an equal-opportunity crisis, affecting students of every age, race, and creed. The dimension that makes the bullying of Muslim students particularly disturbing centers around the open prejudices and fears of adults, giving the green light to non-Muslim children that it's okay -- even patriotic -- to discriminate. 

I have friends from different countries, who have different religions and they told me that they were being bullied for being different and there is an article I found written by Dan Haesler, called "When freedom ore religion becomes bullying" for the www.onlineopinion.com.au, according to article to date, the government has granted exemptions for religious schools to discriminate on the basis of religion, sexual orientation and martial stauts with respect to the staff and students. With the governments's announcement, the CSA are worried that its schools stand to lose that right. The group's chief exective offiver, Stephan O'Doherty said "We currently have the ability to employ people who have Christian beliefs and whose lifestyles are consistent with those beliefs. We are seeking exemptions to be able to employ staff who are Christian and hold certain beliefs. For instance, many Christians believe that being an active homosexual or living with a partner out of wedlock is not part of the Christian faith." 

I remember saying this, I was raised with my family hating the things I support, I have had a lot of friends who are from different religions and he doesn't like it if I go talk to them because he thinks that my friends would influence me and make me change my religion, but I am still Catholic and I still hang out with my friends who come from different countries and I still hang out with them. My dad and his side of the family, they keep on making fun of people with different religions, even if they don't know who they are, seeing my friends cry because they are made fun of, I just tell me my dad to stop. Bullying, it doesn't have to be about religion, it is a hard thing to go through.

There is a site I found about religion discrimination and it showed me Bible verses, the site is called www.openbible.info, and title of the post is called "What Does the Bible Say About Bullying?" I saw this Bible verse, which us from Deuteronomy 31:6 and it says "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave your forsake you."  I think this goes out to everyone, whether you are from a different religion, I think the God that you believe in won't you go against the wrath of the bullies.

If you have a different religion, as long as you believe in someone who you know will give you miracles or blessings in your life then you are saved. All those times I doubt God and Jesus, They were giving blessings in disguise, it was very challenging, I can say that but it was worth it. It was something that I needed to face in order for me to know that whenever I was down and might think of something bad that I will do against myself, I just needed God.

There are so many people who are bullied for having something different about them and religionn is one of them. I saw an article written by James Hamblin, who wrote "Bullied for Not Believing in God" which can be found in www.theatlantic.com and according to James, there was a guy named Gage Pulliam, who took a photo of a plaque that had the Ten Commandments listed on, as it hung on the wall of his Oklahoma high school's biology classroom, he emailed the photo anonymously, to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. They then sent a complaint to the school district, which asked Muldrow High School to take the plaque down. According to Pulliam, "In the wake of my confession, my mother worried for my safety. She was also worried that my teachers would grade me differently. My sister, an 8th grader, said other students wouldn't look at her, and in one instance, she couldn't even get a class project done because her groupmates refused to talk to her." Pulliam's justification for taking the photo in the first place: "I want people to know this isn't me trying to attack religion. This is me trying to create an enviroment for kids where they can feel equal." 

I saw this article called "Stop Bullying Not Judging People Because of Their Race, Religion, Sexual Identity or By Looks and Body Type Size", written by Rye Cather for www.ryecatcher.hubpages.com and according to him, "In this day and age, people, particularly younger people. are being judge and attacked for their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and the worst of all, their physical appearance. People are judged, ridiculed, hazed and made fun of just because of their physical look. People and school children are being teased on a regular and aggressive basis and are getting desperate to feel like they fit in, They are judged by their body type, weight, skin color, ethincity, race, sexual orientation and for what they believe in their religion." I think that people should really stop making fun of others because they are different, you can't force them to be like you. Everyone was created differently, we were created in out unique way because if we weren't, we would all be like robots.

Hermant Mehta, writer of "Protecting Yourself Against Religious Bullies" for the www.patheos.com said that "If you are a person of faith and someone tells you that you are an affront to God and that God is going to send you to burn in hell, that's very upsetting thing to hear. The sad fact of life is that for someone people, reliogion isn't about learning to love and respect others; it is about learning to hate and demonize others. If anyone ever tells you that they know wht God's will is and that God hates you, they have just proven that they believe God wants them to hate." 

It makes me sad that people tell others not to talk or befriend someone who has a different religion. It doesn't really matter, like I said, we were made different and that is how it is going to be for the rest of our lives.

Blogpost#3: It gets better

Bullying and Gay Rights

It Gets Better

Have you ever hung out with a gay person? Or do you anyone who is gay? Have you seen them so down because of the people who put them down? Go talk to them and listen to their problems, you might save their lives. 

 According to an article I found from the website called www.bullyingstatistics.org and according to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgender identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down on problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors.

Another article I found which was written by Jane Riese entitled "Youth Who Are Bullied upon Perceptions About Their Sexual Orientation" coming from the website called www.violencepreventionworks.org according to the website that bullying and harassment can have negative on the development and mental health of GLBTQ students, such as extreme anxiety and depression, relationship problems, low self-esteem, substance abuse, and thoughts of suicide. These students are also at much greater risk of physical assault than other children and youth. They have skipped school and some of them drop out of school. According to Jane, the author of the article, said that "As many as 93 percent of teenagers hear derogatory words about sexual orientation at least once in a while, with more half of teems surveyed hearing such words every day at school and in the community. Also that negative name-calling and harrassment about sexual orientation can be harmful to all students. Three out of four students who are bullied with such remarks are not identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, or questioning (GLBTQ). These derogatory comments are often used boardly to inflict harm in a school setting." 

I have gay and lesbian friends from college and high school, and during high school, a lot of my friends has opened up to me about their sexuality. I was shocked at first because I wasn't really used to having someone open to me about their sexuality, but now, I support them. I went to through a phase as well, coming from an all girls school, I went through the same-sex relationship thing and I over that now. I support my
gay and lesbian friends.

There's a Hollywood celebrity named Wanda Sykes and, she herself is out and proud of her sexuality, has an article written about her being lesbian and it was written by Sarah Warn, for www.afterellen.com, which is entitled "Wanda Sykes Comes Out as Gay and Married" and in the article it says that Comedian and actress Wanda Sykes officially came out this weekend, announcing to the estimated crowd of 1,00 gathered in Las Vegas at one of the many rallies for gay rights taking place around the country onn Saturday that she's gay, and that she legally married her wife in California on Oct. 25. Wanda Sykes said that "I don't really talk about my sexual orientation, I didn't feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. Everybody that knows me personally, they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lifes. We took a huge leap forward and then got dragged 12 feet back. I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked -- our community was attacked. Now, I got to get in their face, I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay." 

When I first heard about the gays, I was kind of confused because back in 5th grade, I was aware that a boy and a girl would end up together, but when my friend opened up to me that she was lesbian and she liked someone, I was shocked because it was really shocking. Now I am supporting them right now because, in my opinion, they need the support that they should get.

According to an article I have read written by Randy Dotinga, who wrote for health.usnews.com and the title of the article is called "Suicidal thoughts more likely for kids victimized over sexual orientation, research finds." and it says that students targeted because they are believed to be gay -- as many as one in seven young teens -- are much more likely than others to be suicidal and depressed, a new survey finds. Also that there are more than 10 percent of eighth-grade boys and girls reported that they're victimized because of perceived sexual orientation, according to a large survey of students in Washington state. There was a professor mentioned in the article named Dr. Donald Patrick, he teaches health services at the University of Washingtion in Seattle, he said "It has profound impaact on their quality of life and the way they think of themselves. Those in eighth grade are in a particularly vulnerable position. These children feel alone in life, that they don't feel as good as other people and their self-esteem is highly affected. It's clear that there's an association, and I wouldn't be so worried about the causation." 

One of the articles I found, which was written by Joshua Poncil for the www.gaystarnews.com, entitled "Male cheerleader forced to quite, change schools over 'gay' bullying" says that a 13 year old male cheerleader was forced to quit and leave his school just because bullies thought he was gay. The middle school student, known as BB, from Louisville, Kentucky, is taking action against the school district. When he joined the cheerleading squad at his first school, he was the only male in the squad. Perceived to be gay, bullies relentlessly tortured him in and out of the classroom. According to BB, who told WDRB, that "It was in the classroom, it was in the cafeteria, and it was in the hallway too. One time I was even practicing and they wre chasing me in the squad auditorium."  BB's mother also spoke out about her son's bullies and said "This is my son and I love him and I don't care what he does as long as it's positive and it's nothing that's going to end up with him in a juvenile detention center." 

I had a similar situation related to the article, I was once a cheerleader back in high school, my friends from my squad hated me for being lesbian and in the squad, we were all girls, my fellow cheerleaders didn't want to have a lesbian friend, so they kept bullying me until I decided to leave the squad. I was devasteted about leaving, but I was getting hurt. Now that I am over that phase of liking girls, my former teammates and I started talking again, I aslo go back to my high school and help the team. These things can make people get stronger and better at the things that they do.

I had a friend, who was lesbian, her family didn't accept her and her choice of sexuality, she was at the top of her game and she didn't expect that from her family, her friends stopped talking her and her classmates ignored her, after that she committed suicide. There is an article I found entitled "Suicide Draws Attention to Gay Bullying", which was written by Anahad O'Connor for www.well.blog.nytimes.com, and according to the article , was written 3 years ago, it says that 5 months ago, Jamey Rodemeyer, a Buffalo junior high school students, got on his webcam and created a video urging other gay teenagers to remain hopeful in the face of bullying. The 14 year old spoke of coming out as bisexual and enduring taunts and slurs at school. And he described, in at times desperate tones, rejection and ridicule from other teenagers. Jamey made the video as the part of the It Gets Better project, a campaign that was started last fall to give hope to bullied gay teenagers and he said "All you have to do is hold your head up and you'll go far. Just love yourself and you're set... It gets better." 

I really think that there is nothing wrong about changing sexualties, I was once lesbian. My comment for the article above, is that it always gets better when you surround yourselves with postive people and those people support you with your desicions, especially when you are having an identity crisis. It really does get better once you accept yourself as who you really are as person. I think being gay is a gift, because with every bad thing you face, it will only make you a stronger and better gay person.

Nicki Minaj had an interview with MTV's Jocelyn Vena and the title of the article is "Nicki Minaj tells her gay fans: 'Suicide is never the answer'" and she says that "I would encourage my gay fans to be fighters and to be brace. People face difficulties, no matter who you are. I faced difficulties with a lot of things. I face opposition every day, but I didn't kill myself and now, thank God, I'm here. So I want my life to be a testimony to my fans and my gay fans. I mean I could never imagine what they're going through. But I know that suicide is never the answer and I know that things always get better. So I am supporting you guys." I really agree with her, I have supporting the LGBT community for as long as I can imagine. I wouldn't be the person I am if I didn't go through that face in my life.

The LGBT youth are just normal people just because they are different, they like people from the same gender or they like both genders or they change their body parts. It doesn't really matter because they're just like us, you can't force to them to go change their sexuality or whatever, they're not like you. Don't expect them to be the same as you. I have been lesbian when I was in high school and I wasn't really because my dad and his side of the family didn't really accept me. I was much happier when I was able to overcome my phase as a lesbian, I am not saying that I wasn't happy as a gay person but it wasn't really the happiest moment of my life because I wasn't accepted in the community.

Accept the people around, whether it be the LGBT community or they're from a different race.

Blogpost#2: A Little Bit Longer and I'll be fine

Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

I know it felt like to be bullied and how it felt like to bully someone. Nobody wants to be made fun of, everybody doesn't want to anyone making fun of them, the question is, why is everyone making fun of each other if they don't want to feel pain? Well, life wouldn't  go on if we didn't know what pain felt like. It is really hard to become a victim, especially if you don't know why you are being bullied. All my high school life, I was bullied for so many reasons, but there was this main reason why I was bullied, it was because I liked girls and when I told them the reason why I liked girls they would just make fun of me even more. Based on my experience, I really hated waking up knowing that I'd be going to school and face my bullies, but life goes on and all you can do is face your bully. Be brave enough to face these people, they're part of your life. Forgive and forget.

According to writer Dorothy Espelage,who wrote for www.education.com ,according to her article, which is entitled "Bullies and Victims", says that Bullying perpetration and victimization was brought to the attention of U.S researchers by Dan Olweus, who spearheaded a nationwide Scandinavian campaign against bullying. Referring to bullies as "whipping boys" in the 1970s, Olweus set forth the following definition of bullying that continued to be consistently used into the early 2000s: "A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students." 

There are so much things bullying alone can lead to and one of them is eating disorders.

According to a site I have found, which is www.huffingtonpost.com, and name of the article is "Bullying and Body Image: How Bullying Leads to Eating Disorders" and it says that, bullying can have a long-lasting results on the bullied, and in some cases, may lead to eating disorders, according to UK Charity Beat. Also a recent study of 600 people in the UK during the Anti-Bullying  Week by Beat found that at least 90 percent of respondents admit to being bullied at some time in their llives, and more than 75 percent of individuals suffering from an eating disorder admit bullying is a significant cause of their disorder. Individuals who are bullied may turn to eating disorders in an effort to manage their stress or take control of their lives. Others simply find solace in their eating disorder. "Anorexia became my friend -- it gave me comfort and separated me from the scary world of socializing -- I didn't have anything else on my mind," said one respondent in the Beat survey.  "I am now recovering but am still exceptionally controlled and rigid around meal times." 

I think of the main reasons why bullying leads to eating disorders, it is because of people making fun of others weight or body image. There is an article I found written by Sherri Gordon, who wrote it for www.bullying.about.com and who's title of the article is "Bullying Linked to Eating Disorders", and the article says that as tweens and teens are growing and developing, they are working through a wide range of psychological and physical issues including body image. At this time in their lives, most of them are extremely conscious about their physical appearance and how they are perceived by others. When they are being bullied and teased about their weight, they sometimes feel sad and ashamed. This can lead to feelings of depression, low self-esteem, and poor body image. It can also make them want to avoid being around others, or stop doing their usual activities. 

I have dealt with eating disorders I know that I not physically fit, when my batchmates make fun of how I look, especially when when they talk about weight, I starve myself  just to lose weight. All that time I was starving myself, I thought that I was loosing weight but I was actually hurting myself, not just that but my friends and the people who care about me as well. Think about others, as well, who are also hurting. After high school I was able to eat properly again because I didn't see my bullies anymore. 

You might think that celebrities don't go through bad things, even there are bad rumors against them, but some of the celebrities have faced eating disorders and one of them is, Christina Ricci. The Addams Family star said that she battled anorexia and according to her "At the time that I was starting to diet and stuff, I saw this TV movie, and I though, 'Ooh--anorexia. I could probably do that,'"

Having eating disorders isn't fun because of how it could literally change someone in a bad way. Based on my personal experience, my thinking that starving myself was the cure, let me tell you it isn't. It wasn't such a fun thing to do because, like I said, I thought I was going to lose weight. When I thought that my waist line got smaller, I thought I was losing weight. I have fought with Binge-eating as well, but mostly I starve myself when I get bullied. 

I saw this article called "Can Bullying Trigger Eating Disorders?" from the website, www.anorexia-reflections.com according to the article, bullies think it's fun to make someone else cry, which they see as a testament to their own power or dominance over another human being. What's interesting is that sensitive people happen to be more prone to the development of eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia. Always eager to please, and a desire to never "rock the boat" these kinds of individuals are unlikely to step out and defend themselves. People with eating disorders have an extreme tendency to over-personalize. They will often take their perpetrator's word as the gospel truth and sometimes go out of their way to make changes in order to try to please them. 

An article that I found, which I got from the website called www.dosomething.org, and according to the site that there are 11 facts about eating disorders, but I will be talking about 3 facts that needs attention:

• Eating disorders can be genetic or caused by psychological issues like coping skills, control issues, trauma, family trouble, or social issues. Each type of eating disorder has many possible causes.
• More than 50 percent of teen girls and nearly 33 percent of teen boys admit to using unhealthy methods to control their weight. 58 percent of the studied girls felt social pressure to maintain a certain size.
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. For women ages 15 to 24, the mortality rate of anorexia is 12 times higher than any other cause of death. 

There is an article I found from the website called www.open.ac.uk and name of the article is called "Is bullying a contributing factor for those with eating disorders?" Dr. Tom Heller, a Senior Lecturer in Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University says "plenty of research has been carried out to discover the potential causes of eating disorders, and the results of the latest survey should be welcome. But the link between bullying and anorexia is not simple."  

I think I have said this before, but when I was bullied I always starve myself because every time I was made fun of, it was always something that has to do with where I am from or how I speak or how I look. My bullies always made sure that I didn't have a good day, so I turned to the one thing I didn't imagine I would actually do, I starved myself. In turn, I didn't feel good about myself and I thought that I would die that way, but then I overcame that and I am here happy that I am in college.

Now, an article written by Dr. Patricia Pitts, PhD, which you can find in the website called www.thebellavita.com and the title of her article is called "Bullying and Eating Disorders", according to Dr. Patricia that the abuse has serious ramifications, leading to significant increases in suicide, substance abuse and development of eating disorders among children. The barrage of put-downs related to weight, physical appearance, religion, intelligence, culture or sexuality comes at a time when children are still developing a healthy sense of self. Bullying contributes to significantly diminishing a person's self-esteem, pushing individuals to manage their stress or take control of their lives through unhealthy, and possibly, deadly means,

Demi Lovato, who suffered from not only from bullying, but also eating disroders, she had an interview with Seventeen Magazine, she wrote the article herself and her article is called "My battle with Eating Disorders" and she said "I started compulsively overeating at a very young age. And then I almost stopped eating altogether at the age of 12, after being harassed by kids at school, for being 'fat'.My eating disorder will continue to affect me for the rest of my life, but I'm proud to say that I got the help I needed, and am now the happiest and healthiest I have ever been!"  She also said that Eating disorders are serious and complex problems that affect millions of young men and women all over the world. But so many people don't actually understand them. For example, it's a common misconception that eating disorders are just about food, But they're actually about so much more than that. Also that it often stem from feelings of low self esteem, depression, anxiety, or in her case, being teased and ridiculed for her weight. She also believes that a big contributing factor to these feelings is the pressure that's out there to meet impossible standards.

There are 3 types of eating disorders, which are Anorexia, Bulimia and Binge-eating. I know what it felt like to have an eating disorder, I starved myself because I was very insecure of how I looked, all of the things I have experienced and because of the bullying I had to go through, starving myself was the only solution I had, which I thought was the easiest way out of bullying.

You can get help, you can get it by telling someone of your disorder and of the bullying you get. I got the same help Demi got when she was suffering from the eating disorder she had. After I got the help I needed, I was and am still the happy girl. Be happy with the body you have, all my life, I had body issues and I thought that starving myself was the only solution, like I said. It isn't and it won't be, because it isn't worth it. I also surround myself with great people and these people also helped me get over my disorder, it was very hard at first, but now I am eating very healthy. 

Blogpost#1: Mean Stinks

Bullying

Bullying

Have you ever wondered how it felt like to be bullied? Or do you just make fun of others, even if they didn't do anything wrong to you? Or you just mock someone you don't even know and you like it? Or you like seeing someone in pain because you made fun of them?

Well, I am not telling you guys to go bully someone. Personally, I have dealt with being bullied and bullying someone. There's a saying that goes like, "Do unto others what you want others to do unto you." Based on my personal experience, I used to bully back in 3rd grade, when I grew up I felt the pain that my victims felt when I bullied them. I guess it was karma telling me that I deserved it. Bullying, which I had to face for almost 6 years, can make you better and stronger, like I did. I showed my bullies that I will do something good with my life, instead of wasting my time doing something bad. Like I said, I used to bully, right? I remember that I bullied someone back in 3rd grade and my whole entire high school life, she and I were friends. You also have to forgive people who did wrong to you and you also have to ask for forgiveness, if you ever did something wrong to someone. 

According to one of the sites I found, which is www.stopbullying.gov, they define bullying as a unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves or perceived power imbalance.

There are a lot of people who bully others, and I think, the people who really have to face bullying are the African-Americans and some of them have different religions and for me, that is racist and fortunately, I read an article by Emily Dugan entitled "Racist bullying: Far-right agenda on immigration 'being taken into classrooms'",from the website,www.independent.co.uk. According to Emily Dugan, the number of children seeking help for racist bullying increased sharply last year, as a campaigners warn that the heated public debate about immigration is souring race relations in the classroom. Also that more than 1,400 children and young people contacted ChildLine for counselling about racist bullying in 2013, up 69 per cent on the previous 12 months.According to James Kingett, of the charity Show Racism The Red Card (SRTRC) which seeks to combat racism, said: "We work with around 50,000 young people every year and issue around Islamphobia have been very prevalent over the past 12 to 18 months. That the idea of Muslims are terrorists or bombers is a particular problem. We're getting that from kids with no Muslim classmates through to those in diverse schools with many Muslims." 

It all starts with teasing someone, then it continues with someone laughing at their victim because the victim is getting annoyed and he or she is already irritated. It leads the victims to do something bad to themselves, in some cases, the victims self-harm, get depressed, starve themselves and so much more. I grew up with my family making fun of foreigners, usually when you grow up with someone making fun of someone you also do it when you grow up, but experiencing that growing up, I knew I was going to stand up for what I believed was right. Now, in my own words, Racism happens to everyone, but it makes someone more insecure about themselves when they are trying to make themselves happy. 

There's a singer named Ciara and she speaks out against Blog and Internet Haters and there's an article related to this and it was written by Barock O'Drama and according to her that Ciara is sick and tired of blogs and social media, and the fact that they are both sometimes used as platforms for "hate." Ciara said in her blog "It's now almost impossible to protect your kids from the vile things people say on blog sites today, and it's even worse when kids hear hurtful things about themselves, their parents or other family members. In some cases, kids have even resorted to suicide due to 'cyber-bullying' Words are powerful. You could say the wrong thing about someone, famous or not, on the wrong day and that could cost them their life because they're at a weak point" I totally agree with her because when I was being bullied, all I felt was that I wanted to just stop going to school and not face my bullies, at that point, I was very vulnerable. I knew that one day I'd have to face it and to just move on, somehow I did.

Bullying is a serious issue, it isn't a once in a life time thing. It is going to haunt you for the rest of your life, like it did with me. There are somethings that I will regret doing because it lead to me being the victim, but I don't regret becoming the person I am today. I was bullied for a reason, my experience on bullying, all these articles I've read and the future articles that I will be reading will make me understand the true meaning of bullying.

There are so many people taking their lives or attempts to do so and there is an article I found which was written by Evann Gastaldo and the title of her article is "Boy, 11, attempts suicide over My Little Pony Bullying" according to the article found in www.newser.com, it says that "an 11-year-old boy from Raleigh, North Carolina attempted suicide did so after he was bullied over his affection for the My Little Pony cartoon. Michael Morones is "the kid that never walks. He dances everywhere," his mom tells ABC 11. But on the evening of Jan.23, overcome with the teasing, "he hung himself off the side of the bunk bed, off the railing," she says. His parents rushed him to the hospital, but because oxygen to his brain was cut off, he may suffer life-long brain damage. Chicago Now reports his brain, heart, and lungs were damaged. 

An article written by Katherine Sellgren for the BBC News entitled "Cyberbullying 'on rise'" from www.bbc.co.uk and according to the article that the charity ChildLine saw 4,507 cases of cyberbullying on 2012-13 up from 2,410 in 2011-12. The charity also saw a rise in concerns about self-harming, while depression and difficult family relationships were the top reasons for seeking help. It also says in the article that for the first time in the charity;s 28-year history, more counselling took place online(59%) than by the telephone(41%).

I saw in an article written by Amy C. Rippel, her article is entitled "Retired baseball star Johnny Damon fights bullying with Lake Sherriff's Office" and I found it on a website called articles.orlandosentinel.com and according to the article that a retired baseball player named Johnny Damon who last played for the Tampa Bay Rays and when he doesn't play baseball he makes sure that he goes for helping put a stop to bullying in Lake County schools. Now that he is retired, he is part of the Lake County Sheriff's Office campaign aimed at bringing more attention to bullying and stopping this growing trend across the nation. And he says "Unfortunately, the bullying situation is getting out of hand and I have 6 kids, so I don't want to see that going on with any of my kids." 

There are 3 types of bullying: Physical Bullying, Verbal Bullying and Cyber-Bullying. Based on my experience, I have dealt with Verbal and Cyber-Bullying the most because coming from an all-girls school, my batchmates made sure that there was no evidence or some sort that won't be filed against them, so they chose to verbally bully me, I faced so much bullies over the internet. My friends noticed that I wasn't eating properly, I was sad, I was quiet, which was something my friends and classmates weren't used to. 

An article written by Kate Hogan,who interviewed Demi Lovato, titled "Demi Lovato is Ambassador for New Anti-bullying Campaign" which can be found in www.people.com  and Demi said "I had a really tough time in middle school. People would write 'hate petitions' about me. They'd have CD-bashing parties of my demos. They'd come to my house, stand across the street and yell things. It was a very emotional time for me, and all I wanted to do was get away." 

Bullying can cause so much a person and it is something that everyone faces, even the bullies themselves. I have dealt with bullying the hard way and I have manage to get out the harshness of it, but sadly, I had to face them still during college, even if I knew I wouldn't get out of the bullying world, but there are ways to un-target yourself from being bullied. I will say this in my own words because I have personally encountered bullying myself. Now, make sure to ask your closest friends if they have any problems with you because there is always room for anyone to change. Usually these types of things can lead friends to bully you behind your back, and when you find out, you get sad and it can cause depression, it make you do bad things to yourself. Personally, I have dealt with self-harm and it isn't the best solution to deal with bullying or possibly anything. 

Live a happy life with bullies who make you in a better and stronger person.