BRAVE
Bullying Rejected and Victims Empowered
You're Not Alone
Have you been hurt by a bully’s words or fists? Did it happen on-line or face-to-face? It doesn’t matter. We want you to know something no bully is ever going to tell you. You are not alone. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
You have friends – other students in Sweetwater – who felt just what you’re probably feeling. Hurt. Ashamed. Alone. Ugly. A waste of space. We want you to know we made it through, we make it through, all of those feelings. We make it by telling our stories, by listening to yours without ever judging, and by sharing the resources that do exist for people like us (there are actually lots of resources).
We are strong because we are together in this, and we want you to hear our stories. We KNOW how dark, how lonely, how hopeless you feel right now. We want you to KNOW it will get brighter, you do have friends who get it, completely, and part of what helps us is telling those stories, knowing they can reach people who are really hurting. Read some of our stories below, and check out the resources page.
If you have ever bullied someone else, you should read the stories, too. Some are even addressed to you. We want you to know how you hurt us, but much more than that, we want you to know how you helped us. We are stronger because we learned how to see past the hateful, ugly things you said about us…and we learned to see our true selves.
We are beautiful, generous, confident, full of life and hope that you helped us find deep inside ourselves, deep inside where our true stories really come from. Deep inside where nothing you do or say can hurt or even touch us.