With Bullying Awareness Week coming Nov. 16 – 22 there are a number of initiatives in place to raise awareness about issues surrounding both victims of bullying and the bullies themselves.
One local Cochrane High School student has taken bullying awareness to a new level – at 14 years old, she decided to write and publish a book about the issue.
“I want it to get out there. My goal isn’t to make money. I want to help make a difference and stop bullying,” said Hannah Godard, author of the book.
Godard said she was inspired to write the book by one of her friends who had experienced bullying and had attempted suicide.
The book, For the Beautiful People, is about a young girl who experiences bullying and eventually meets a friend who helps her deal with the issue.
Godard got the idea to write the book in January of this year and she said that by April she had finished the book and had it available online for purchase.
She used the self-publishing website Lulu, where the book is now available, as well as on Amazon, iBooks and Barnes & Noble online.
In April, she said she approached her parents to purchase a few copies of the book, including one for the girl who she had written it for. It was the first they had heard about the book and Godard said her parents were pretty surprised, but also worried.
As Godard explained, her parents thought the bullying described in the book was happening to her (their daughter) at school.
Once she explained everything, she said they went from worried to very proud.
According to the RCMP Centre for Youth Crime Prevention website, adolescents who are victims of bullying are at risk of suffering from depression, stress related health problems, aggressive behaviors and social anxiety.
It also points out that a new form of bullying, cyberbullying, is particularly challenging because it affects victims in different ways than traditional bullying, having the potential to follow a victim everywhere 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
There have been initiatives to combat this new form of bullying put forward by the Canadian government.
According to the office of MP Blake Richards, in January of 2014 the Stop Hating Online Initiative was launched and was designed to open eyes to the dangers of online exploitation.
Parents and youth are encouraged to visit Canada.ca/StopHatingOnline for information, advice and tools to identify, prevent and stop cyberbullying.
The government also introduced Bill C – 13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, developed to ensure children are safe from online predators and exploitation.
“If you’re being bullied, or you are a bystander, you have to say something or else it won’t get better,” said Godard. “It is not OK and no one deserves it.”
According to the Kids Help Phone, 60 per cent of the time, bullying stops in less than 10 seconds when someone steps in. The RCMP website recommends dealing with bullying by telling a trusted adult like a parent or teacher, report the online bullying to the social media site or call the Kids Help Phone.
Godard hopes that her book can make a difference.
“I am doing all I can to make it, life, I guess easier for her,” said Godard on her website for the book. “But I know I can do more. I want to do more. I think the world can do more.”
For more information on Godard’s book visit forthebeautifulpeople.webs.com.
