Often times when I say "I was bullied" most, if not all assume it happened while I was at school, on the bus or on the playground. Bullying of our youth is a very serious, life threatening issue; this is also the case for adults.
When you are bullied as an adult a few things happen. Much like our young targets, you feel extremely embarrassed this is happening to you, to the point of not saying anything out of fear that people will not believe you, or worse yet think you are not the confident, strong person everyone sees you as. For myself, I felt I had brought this upon myself in some way or caused this negative attention. The more I seemed to mind my own business the more I was sought out. The effects of bullying are both physical and mental and they are also residual.
Maybe we can not change the person who enjoys being the bully, but we sure can do something to inspire and empower victims and bystanders.
I have decided to create a campaign to do just that. This campaign is not about me. This campaign is to make you think twice when you hear the word "bullied." This is not an issue that can be solved by one city or state. This is a world-wide issue that needs a global effort. People are taking their own lives. 1 out of 6 adults suffer silently at work every single day trapped in a pattern of torment. Bullying does not have a specific person in mind when it looks for its next victim. It does not stay within the borders of your state or country. Please join me in breaking the stigma that surrounds the word "bullying" to inspire change. We need stricter policies set in place at work, we need supervisors to be taught how to deal with these issues. We need victims to feel they are not alone. We need to create a culture of kindness and it starts with each and everyone of us.
A few months ago I reached out to people through social media looking for victims of bullying to share their stories. The feedback was more than I ever could have imagined. The stories were heart breaking and empowering. The more and more I received these stories, the more I knew I was doing a much needed thing. We are all at different points in our journey of healing. Some are still going through the storm while others have overcome and moved on. From these stories shared with me, I decided to create an outlet for wherever you are.
I will be featuring an anonymous guest blogger every couple of weeks. I wanted to give targets a platform to be heard. They will be telling their stories about what they have gone through in hopes to continue to raise awareness that no matter your age, your gender or where you live... Bullying Does Not Discriminate.
I am extremely proud to introduce to you my campaign #BullyingDoesNotDiscriminate
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