Today I was impacted by a letter. I started a pen-pal program at Emporia High School with BUILD Beauty and today it was our turn to reply to our pen-pals. I finally read the letter my pen-pal had written to me today so I could write back in time to turn it in today. I was mad at myself for not reading it sooner. I've had it for about 3 weeks now and just got to it. My pen-pal told me about physically harming herself, being in pain due to a bully at school, getting her heartbroken and more. It was rough to read and it pained me to know that someone is going through that. That she feels as if harming herself is the only solution. I wrote back and included a couple handouts I had made for BUILD and another presentation I did Monday for a sorority. I took the letter up to the high school and I called the counselor I stay in contact with at the high school and left a voice mail reporting what I found out. I wish I had known sooner. I wish I could have done more. I don't even know this girl's last name or her number. I did all that I could for now. I wrote a letter and left a voice mail. It started to weigh on me. I called my mom to talk to her about it and I couldn't help it. I cried. I cried talking about it because my heart ached for a girl having to go through such pain and I wanted to stop it. When I went to the school I was wishing I could come across this bully and tell her to stop. I cried because it made me realize the reality of it. You hear about it on the news, it's in the TV shows and movies, but when you read a letter from someone that physically wrote about this pain, it makes it all real. I kept thinking about Lady Gaga. I know, random. And it is her birthday today by the way! But, she talks a lot about how she was bullied in high school and she is always standing up against it. She has started a Born This Way foundation that goes along with bullying. It makes me like her even more and want to support her more. It makes me happy to know that she is using her resources to stand up for such an important issue. This definitely made me think and wish that things like this would stop. It is heartbreaking to know that people can cause other people so much pain. I really hope that my pen-pal will get help and deal with these problems in a healthy way. I am glad that she reached out to me and I hope that by me letting someone know can help her. Sometimes you need to speak up and sometimes you need to stand up against things.
Sparkle & Shine,
Rachel
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I'm Rachel's aunt Amy and I was bullied when I was 16 years old. No one would do anything about it to help me at the school...I got the standard, "Just ignore them and they will stop." The girl that was the instigator had a mom on the school board...go figure. Well, they didn't stop. They kept bullying me until I was in a deep depression and wanting to take my own life...I thought that was the only way to make it stop and have some peace. The final straw was one day when I went to school and someone had scratched, "Go kill yourself" into my locker. I never set foot in that school again. The moral of this story is, it WILL get better. It sucks and I know it is hard to go through, but life WILL go on and you WILL find happiness. I'm an old lad now...well, over 40 at least. :) Thank God, high school doesn't last forever! I changed schools for my junior and senior year and found happiness again. That is where I met Rachel's uncle, realized not all teenagers are as awful as the ones I had been dealing with at my other school, and found self-worth again. If you are being bullied ask for help. There is no shame in seeking help...you don't have to fight the bullies alone. And if you are a witness to bullying, don't stand by a let it happen...tell an adult. Hang in there girly girls, I promise it will get better. Love ya'll!
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