Being bullied makes children feel isolated. Kids who are bullied feel like they are the only ones in the whole school or neighborhood experiencing it, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. According to the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “20 percent of students in grades 9–12 experienced bullying.”
What may be even more relevant to a kid in this situation is hearing about the same thing happening to someone they see on TV or hear on the radio. Motivating a child to understand the dynamics of youth bullying as it relates to a celebrity they recognize will go a long way in changing their perspective on their own experience.
There are many celebrities that were bullied as children. Here are just a few that have shared their stories publicly:
Megan Fox
Fox of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and “Two and a Half Men” fame was bullied throughout high school. She said that the bullying made her feel like high school was never going to end.
Tom Cruise
One of the most recognizable actors in the world, Tom Cruise was forced to fight a bully as a kid. He spoke of knowing that he had to stand up for himself, or he was going to be picked on by that person continuously.
Demi Lovato
Singer and former judge on “The X Factor” has spoken about the hate petitions concerning her that were signed and circulated in middle school. She also told of CD-bashing parties where people destroyed her demo CDs.
Chris Colfer
This Glee star’s bullying episodes in middle school were so bad that he asked to be home-schooled. The kids who bullied him often stuffed him into lockers.
Kristen Stewart
Bella from Twilight remembers being verbally abused in the sixth grade. People talking about her and making disparaging remarks formed indelible memories.
Jessica Alba
Fantastic Four’s Jessica Alba was bullied so badly that her father walked her to school every day so that she didn’t get into a fight.
Bullying can happen to anyone.
Bullying doesn’t define what a person ends up doing in life. As these stories show, bullying can be overcome. Motivating a child to use their experiences to push them forward goes a long way to combating youth bullying.
