2018-10-01_Reader_s_Digest_AUNZ

October• 2018 | 91

READER’S DIGEST

o

are bullied are

more likely to be

depressed, anxious,

struggle with school

work and experience

mental health issues.

If you are concerned

about someone,

then it is important

to ofer support and

seek expert help for

them – and yourself if

you are being bullied.

We’ve given them detailed ideas of
what bullies do and told them not
to be one. What we haven’t done
though, is teach them how to be
nice to one another. We just assume
they know. We hope that when we
tell them to ‘be nice’ that they know
how, but often they don’t.

I KNEW I HAD TO DO SOMETHING.
That’s when Kindness Matters
(https://kindness-matters.org) was
born. I started it as a Facebook page
with the intent of sharing stories of
kindness and reminders to be kind
to one another, even when it wasn’t
easy.WealsostartedaWeekly Kind-
ness Challenge that gave people a
kindness task to perform each week.
i t th ere only a few

hundred followers. Soon after, I was

asked to speak at my school’s No

Place For Hate rally and I shared

Peyton’s story. Then, I started

speaking at other schools, sharing

Peyton’s story and using participa-

tion activities to show kids the real

power of their words and the power

of kindness.

To date, we have given presenta-

tions in 38 schools and our Facebook

family has grown to over 29,000.

We’ve also sent Kindness Matters

T-shirts and wristbands to all 50

US states and nine countries. Also,

because Peyton wanted to be a vet-

erinarian when he grew up, we’ve

started a scholarship in his name at

the Texas A&M University School of

Veter i na r y Med ic i ne.

Experts say the

risks are high when

it comes to bullying.

Girls who have been

bullied are four times

more likely to have

suicidal tendencies

than girls who

haven’t been bullied,

while boys that are

bullied are two-and-

a-half times more

likely to think about

suicide.

Young people who

first, there

To get help in

Australia: Call 1800

55 1800 or visit http://www.

kidshelpline.com.au

or http://www.lifeline.org.au.

New Zealand: Visit

lifeline.org.nz, Lifeline

Kidsline 0800 54 37

54, or upstand.org.

Singapore: Visit

cabcysg.wixsite.com/

cabcysg

Malaysia: Call

Childline on 15999.

Need Help or Support?