{pictures and videos | annie jaffrey- bullying and high school}

Sadly, bullying still exists especially in high school. I understand that I do have some people who follow my work who are younger than myself and may unfortunately be victim to this outdated act. I want you to know that high school is but one chapter of your life and it will pass and soon enough become a part of your journey that you can move forward from. Once high school finishes you will part ways with those who hurt and/or humiliated you and you will start upon a new beginning free from those who made your life ever so torturous. Beyond high school you are able to start entirely anew, become who you want to be, act how you want to act, do what you want to do, make new friends and focus more clearly on where you want to go with your life.

I want you to know that you're not alone and that many people, even those who you would least expect, have been bullied before. Bullying will only make you stronger and truly transform you into a fighter. You must see it as preparing you for the world that is out there and the world that exists beyond high school. Bullying will still exist in friendship circles, between family members, in work places, in public between strangers, on public transport and so forth: it is seemingly inescapable. I do not mean to tell you that you are forever stuck in a phase of bullying but I do mean to tell you that bullying exists in many forms and it is carried out towards many human beings. The lesson you learn from this is that you need to still maintain your character and grace no matter how poorly others treat you. You learn to have a good heart even if others show you that they may not. 

I'll make a post in regards to bullying another time but for now it's time to focus on this video by Annie Jaffrey. She begins the video by mentioning an insightful point which is that more than face-to-face bullying, cyber bullying is of great importance nowadays. 71% of students, she states, have reported bullying as being a problem at their school which she finds to be truly heartbreaking for high school is meant to the years of your life that you enjoy and remember. 1 in 7 students from kindergarden through 12th grade is a victim of bullying or is a bully themselves. She goes on to state that people can be bullied for their appearances, nationality, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or basically any characteristic that makes us different, an individual and beautiful.

Annie then makes the video more personal by opening up about her own personal experiences with bullying. She mentions that in middle school she was overweight and under confident and in being picked on and being so young, she didn't know how to deal with it all. Her advice is to speak back and defend yourself. In being bullied, she learned that people will not always be nice to you even if you're nice to them. She then goes on to talk about high school and how girls in particular can often times be exceptionally catty. Even on YouTube, Annie receives the occasional nasty comment or email and she stated that if it's not constructive criticism then she simply moves past it. 

The video then moves on to address why people bully other people to which she states that one of the reasons is because the bully has insecurities themselves and they feel as though picking on someone else and pointing out their flaws can somehow make them feel better about themselves. Bullying can be a sense of empowerment for some who may feel powerless in other situations such as if someone is having personal problems at home, they can go to school and take that out on others. Bullies may be jealous of something that the victim has. For the bully, this may be their way of releasing their feelings and expressions onto someone else which is unfortunate because they don't think of the consequences and how they are making the other person feel.

Annie then moves on to speak about a SOLUTION and how to deal with bullying and bullies. The first thing is to speak out and tell someone whether it be your friends, family, teacher(s) or a principal so that the bully understands that together with those who support you, you are all bigger than the bully and their negativity. Don't suffer in silence. She then states that you have to believe in yourself and realise how amazing you are so that you can have the tools to speak back to the bully. No matter what, people will always pick out a flaw or fault about you but that won't get them far in life because they're busy on focusing on other people rather than themselves. Her next piece of advice is to be the bigger person, especially if you're a victim of physical violence fighting back isn't ideal for it will start a cycle of violence.

Annie states that a rule of life is surrounding yourself with positive, funny and inspiring people and those who you just click with. You may want to join a club to find those who have the same interests as yourself. If someone says that you can't do something or that you'll never be who you want to be simply thank them and move on and allow for that be fuel for you to prove them wrong. The best form of revenge is well and truly success. If you're a bully who wants wants to stop bullying then you need to surround yourself with the right people for negativity only breeds negativity. Truly apologise to those who you have bullied before and put yourself in their position. Hurting and harassing someone is wrong and you wouldn't want someone to do that to you.

She ends the video on an important note by mentioning that even if you don't know someone you should still pay them the smallest compliment. I support this for you never know what someone is going through or how insecure they are about themselves. Therefore, complimenting them can give them hope that not everyone they come across is cruel or a bully and to keep on braving every single day, that they are beautiful or that there is something about them that someone likes or that people see something in them that they can't see themselves.