"Unbreakable"
I've had to deal with some really horrible bullying and cyberbullying. But I've tried to fight the good fight and to do something about it on a bigger scale, especially because I kept meeting others who were struggling, too. With my mind and heart heavy due to my situation and that of others, I started to research cyberbullying. Ryan Halligan, Megan Meier, Jeffrey Johnston, and more and more names kept coming up. Reading their stories and the decisions they made to end their cyberbullying cut me deeply. I remembered an organization my mom had told me about called DoSomething.org. It's a place for kids and teens to do something to better the world. I decided to create Unbreakable, a project to help me heal as well as heal others who were bullied. I didn't have much of a plan at first—I just knew my goal was to end cyberbullying.
Soon, I got more passionate and wanted to tell more people what was happening. I wanted to be a voice for all victims of bullying. I printed out hundreds of pages of websites made just to attack kids. I sent a letter describing myself, my Unbreakable project, stories of suicide, and pages and pages of bullying sites to media outlets, politicians, law enforcement, celebrities, school superintendents, and anyone else I hoped would listen. The Tampa Tribune, ABC News, and Bay News 9 responded. Soon I was on a media train with Unbreakable. I created an Unbreakable Facebook fan page. My page targeted cyberbullies and the creators of the cruel sites. It also told the stories of Ryan, Megan, and Jeffrey. In the beginning, the page was mostly a surge of congratulations to "whoever this is" speaking out. (Before the media buzz, I didn't tell people that I was behind Unbreakable.) One student who had previously cyberbullied people posted, "I don't know who this is but you are an inspiration to me. Thank you for standing up and speaking out." I think it's awesome that my project has encouraged others to change their ways, and that Unbreakable got a lot more students to think and care about this important issue.
Apparently, I look like a panda so kids at my school took it upon themselves to refer to me as panda express and "enjoy" the skateboard brand. At first I would just brush it off but then it genuinely started to get to me. I would go home and cry about it. I was already going through major problems at home but, getting called a panda at school would just make things hell for me. Then I got a form spring where i received comments telling me to go kill myself and that every time i walk the whole earth shakes. I wanted to kill myself. One night i was sitting there on my computer just shaking and crying so bad that i was ready to kill myself. I felt like nothing else mattered and everyone hated me. I had never done anything to these people for them to hate me so much that i don't deserve to be alive and i didn't get it. One day, I went to a concert and met every person i wanted to meet i even got kissed by some band mates I realized that in 10 years these people won't matter at all. I realized they were going to become nothing and by them doing that to me was terrible and that karma would get back at them.
15 year-old girl from NC