let me tell you a story about a little
girl named Abby back when she was in
kindergarten she met a little girl we’ll
call her Ana and they were pretty good
friends for a little bit and I really
didn’t have any friends so Abby of being
the girl she is decided to befriend her
so she would have somebody in her life
like I said it was good for about a year
and then first grade came around and
Abby’s mood started to change she was as
excited to go to school anymore
one night Abby went into her parents
bedroom and told them that she was not
feeling too well
and that she could not go to school the
next day obviously they asked her what
didn’t feel well and she stopped and
broke down into tears they asked her
what was wrong what was wrong and she
said that Ana told her that she was
going to take her put her into the
electrical box outside of the school and
electrocute her to death
kill one word she’s 11 now and Ana is
still not allowed to see her it was a
big thing the principal had to take her
out to show her that nobody could get
into the box except for the electrical
company and it just really really scared
her understandably this story sounds
very elaborated and made-up I understand
but unfortunately it is very true and
that little girl named Abby is my little
sister 49 percent of children grades 4
through 12 have been bullied in the past
month forty point six percent of those
children are bullied very frequently
meaning twice or more a month bullying
is not just one school grade or level of
schooling that we need to worry about it
happens in elementary schools middle
schools high schools sir some areas are
more prevalent than others but it
definitely happens in all of them and we
need to be aware of this back when I was
in elementary school and a bit into
middle school and not as much though
I was bullied a lot for my weight I was
told that I was too skinny really I was
just underweight and I always have been
but it’s obviously a lot more fun to
make assumptions than get the facts
I was called anorexic one word I was
called gross one word those words affect
me to this day
I am still insecure about that because
of those things that were told to me do
you want to be a bystander I have a
story about zebras that kind of
correlates to that when there is a pack
of zebras and one and they’re just
walking and one of them gets taken down
by a lion what do the Zebras do they
don’t go over to help they don’t do
anything they stand there and they watch
don’t be a zebra definitely try to help
somebody if you see someone getting made
fun of somebody getting bullied somebody
getting hurt always go up to them and
try to help back when I was in about
eighth grade I was walking to the bus
after school and I saw a little boy
walking and two guys came up to him and
took his backpack off of him and tried
dumping all his things onto the ground
well I saw this and I ran up to them and
I said hey stop one word of course they
said that they were just joking just
having fun well that’s untrue if they
were just joking then that little boy
would have been involved he would have
been having fun too but he clearly was
not just joking and having fun should be
both parties not just one-sided I walked
the boy back to his bus after getting
his things back after being called lame
and dumb and stupid for ruining their
fun and I never saw him again I
don’t know if he got bullied after that
day but I’m happy to know that at least
for one day I showed that little boy
that somebody was there who cared that
people are out there who will help
there’s a musical that came out last
year called dear Evan Hansen it’s one of
my favorites there’s a quote from that
it’s very relevant to this topic I never
let them see the worst of me because
what if everyone saw what if everyone
knew would they like what they saw or
would they hate it too this boy named
Evan has been bullied his whole life and
it’s to the point now that he is
terrified to go into public because he’s
worried that everybody will hate him as
much as he hates himself that mindset
you are not born with you learned that
people get bullied into hating
themselves they’re not born into it
another quote from that musical is you
are not alone so many people do not
understand that but it is 110 percent
true nobody is alone if you ask for help
somebody will give it you are never
alone I’m sure some people in this
audience have been bullied to the point
of self harm or even attempted suicide
unfortunately some of you may even know
somebody who has succeeded this is a
very real and very serious issue that we
do talk about but it’s never dealt with
kids are told to just deal with it just
ignore them well it doesn’t work like
that sometimes you actually need to help
in reality you have absolutely no idea
what is going on in a person’s head
someone could be your best friend and
they could be hiding something that’s
really really hurting them from you
always all
be mindful of what you say be kind
always think to yourself is this
something that will have a positive
impact on someone’s life and is it worth
saying because one word one single word
can have such a massive impact on
somebody’s life if you go up to someone
in the hallway and smile and say hello
that could make their day but if you go
up to someone and say they’re stupid
that can completely ruin their day and
you have no idea what they’re dealing
with they could be right on the edge in
that one thing you say to them could
either completely help them or
completely ruin them unfortunately one
person alone cannot stop bullying but
going up to someone in the hallway and
telling them that their hair looks nice
or saying one nice thing or even just
smiling at them is a real good step in
the right direction
one word help ask for it and give it
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
girl named Abby back when she was in
kindergarten she met a little girl we’ll
call her Ana and they were pretty good
friends for a little bit and I really
didn’t have any friends so Abby of being
the girl she is decided to befriend her
so she would have somebody in her life
like I said it was good for about a year
and then first grade came around and
Abby’s mood started to change she was as
excited to go to school anymore
one night Abby went into her parents
bedroom and told them that she was not
feeling too well
and that she could not go to school the
next day obviously they asked her what
didn’t feel well and she stopped and
broke down into tears they asked her
what was wrong what was wrong and she
said that Ana told her that she was
going to take her put her into the
electrical box outside of the school and
electrocute her to death
kill one word she’s 11 now and Ana is
still not allowed to see her it was a
big thing the principal had to take her
out to show her that nobody could get
into the box except for the electrical
company and it just really really scared
her understandably this story sounds
very elaborated and made-up I understand
but unfortunately it is very true and
that little girl named Abby is my little
sister 49 percent of children grades 4
through 12 have been bullied in the past
month forty point six percent of those
children are bullied very frequently
meaning twice or more a month bullying
is not just one school grade or level of
schooling that we need to worry about it
happens in elementary schools middle
schools high schools sir some areas are
more prevalent than others but it
definitely happens in all of them and we
need to be aware of this back when I was
in elementary school and a bit into
middle school and not as much though
I was bullied a lot for my weight I was
told that I was too skinny really I was
just underweight and I always have been
but it’s obviously a lot more fun to
make assumptions than get the facts
I was called anorexic one word I was
called gross one word those words affect
me to this day
I am still insecure about that because
of those things that were told to me do
you want to be a bystander I have a
story about zebras that kind of
correlates to that when there is a pack
of zebras and one and they’re just
walking and one of them gets taken down
by a lion what do the Zebras do they
don’t go over to help they don’t do
anything they stand there and they watch
don’t be a zebra definitely try to help
somebody if you see someone getting made
fun of somebody getting bullied somebody
getting hurt always go up to them and
try to help back when I was in about
eighth grade I was walking to the bus
after school and I saw a little boy
walking and two guys came up to him and
took his backpack off of him and tried
dumping all his things onto the ground
well I saw this and I ran up to them and
I said hey stop one word of course they
said that they were just joking just
having fun well that’s untrue if they
were just joking then that little boy
would have been involved he would have
been having fun too but he clearly was
not just joking and having fun should be
both parties not just one-sided I walked
the boy back to his bus after getting
his things back after being called lame
and dumb and stupid for ruining their
fun and I never saw him again I
don’t know if he got bullied after that
day but I’m happy to know that at least
for one day I showed that little boy
that somebody was there who cared that
people are out there who will help
there’s a musical that came out last
year called dear Evan Hansen it’s one of
my favorites there’s a quote from that
it’s very relevant to this topic I never
let them see the worst of me because
what if everyone saw what if everyone
knew would they like what they saw or
would they hate it too this boy named
Evan has been bullied his whole life and
it’s to the point now that he is
terrified to go into public because he’s
worried that everybody will hate him as
much as he hates himself that mindset
you are not born with you learned that
people get bullied into hating
themselves they’re not born into it
another quote from that musical is you
are not alone so many people do not
understand that but it is 110 percent
true nobody is alone if you ask for help
somebody will give it you are never
alone I’m sure some people in this
audience have been bullied to the point
of self harm or even attempted suicide
unfortunately some of you may even know
somebody who has succeeded this is a
very real and very serious issue that we
do talk about but it’s never dealt with
kids are told to just deal with it just
ignore them well it doesn’t work like
that sometimes you actually need to help
in reality you have absolutely no idea
what is going on in a person’s head
someone could be your best friend and
they could be hiding something that’s
really really hurting them from you
always all
be mindful of what you say be kind
always think to yourself is this
something that will have a positive
impact on someone’s life and is it worth
saying because one word one single word
can have such a massive impact on
somebody’s life if you go up to someone
in the hallway and smile and say hello
that could make their day but if you go
up to someone and say they’re stupid
that can completely ruin their day and
you have no idea what they’re dealing
with they could be right on the edge in
that one thing you say to them could
either completely help them or
completely ruin them unfortunately one
person alone cannot stop bullying but
going up to someone in the hallway and
telling them that their hair looks nice
or saying one nice thing or even just
smiling at them is a real good step in
the right direction
one word help ask for it and give it
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
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