Today is Stand Up to Bullying Day so it was all the more apt to share another personal post which I know I don’t usually do (let me know if you like them or not!) it’s been sat here ready and waiting and it seemed just the perfect time.
Bullying, it shouldn’t be accepted, watched, allowed to happen, I’ve been a firm believer of this throughout my life. When I was a teen I suffered what I’d describe as mild bouts of bullying, about my size (I was very thin and tall so insults of Lanky Lucy, Lampost Lucy and what not were the order of most days, alongside general body shaming taunts), my teeth (they’ve always been an off yellow colour thanks to a childhood illness that resulted in me never having much enamel on them which even causes comments from grown ups these days!), my intelligence (I was in top sets for everything bar Art! So of course that was something to get picked on for) and probably other traits that I don’t remember now. Basically everything that made up ME. At the time I developed a thick skin to learn to ignore them, but of course it’s just not that easy, and if it had gotten worse I don’t think I would have known where to turn way back then.
I also remember sticking up for friends whenever they were subjected to similar things it meant they turned their attention to me but it didn’t matter to me as long as my friends were okay. It took me a while to gain that strength and to even realise that they were affected by others words as well, we were in it together. As I say I was lucky though as this is no where as near as bad as what bullying I’ve heard about from new friends, from parents and through blogs I’ve read. It’s so much ‘easier’ nowadays to be a bully too, with the internet and social media all being things to hide behind, it’s more than just a yell in a playground as it was to me 20 years ago. That’s why it’s so important that support systems are built for those experiencing bullying nowadays as it’s unfortunately needed all the more.
I’d started to write all this down after I’d been sent some new products from Paul Mitchell- Neon Hair. It’s ethos is very fresh and young and promotes the #StandOutStyle. It’s all about allowing and encouraging people to be themselves and shine, so they partnered go with The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign which aims to empower young people to tackle bullying in their schools and communities and gives them a network to get support and advice and to help them through their experience (more here including the support section). Neon Hair have even got their own Anti-Bullying ambassadors who you can see here too- they talk about their experiences and use them to help others. They are aiming to raise more awareness of the campaign and so I had to talk about it today.
I appreciate I’ve spoken more about bullying to younger people and my younger self but I’m more than aware it can happen to us adults too, so don’t feel afraid to reach out and talk, there’s some great support tools and numbers on the site here and remember it’s good to talk, be it a friend, colleague, family member or stranger at the end of a phone. And if you’re supporting someone through it then hopefully this has given you more avenues to explore for help too.