Many people all over the world deal with the issue of bullying. It’s more common than people think, but few people share their experiences with bullies, so many others think that they’re alone.

Statistics reported by ABC News show that about 30 percent of students are bullies to others or are victim to bullying. We have all heard, especially recently, about the dangers of bullying. Bullying causes over 4,400 unnecessary deaths each year.

Think of your high school: around 14 percent of the student body at your school has thought about attempting suicide due to bullies, and about half of them have actually tried.

Bullies tend to pick on other’s insecurities and make them feel insignificant and terrible about themselves.

This causes around 160,000 kids to be absent from school each day, just because they can’t stand the abuse.

If the victim doesn’t seek help or talk to someone about the problem, bullying can lead to terrible consequences.

If everyone accepted the way they are and stopped worrying about how and what others thought of them, bullying would eventually fade away.

Realizing this is so much easier said than done, but there is still hope.

Most of this may seem cheesy, but bear with me and realize that it’s all really true. You are an original; there is nobody else exactly like you. The little differences, like those you may be bullied for, only make you greater.

Think about it, when talent scouts or a big agency is looking for a new client, they aren’t looking for something they’ve seen a million times over, they’re looking for something new and different and special. If nobody was original and didn’t embrace who they were, you wouldn’t have a lot of the people you look up to today.

Celebrities such as Jessica Simpson, Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Lovato, Jessica Alba, Colin Farrell, Jason Derulo and many more were bullied for their interests or their style or the way they acted, but look where being themselves has gotten them. They earned fame because they decided that being who they were was okay.

But being yourself isn’t just important if you want a career in the entertainment industry, it’s also very important because it is the only way to tell who your true friends are. If you are holding back who you are, then how do you know you can fully trust those around you? What if they’re holding themselves back, too?

When I think of true friends, I think of someone you feel so comfortable around that you forget about your issues, anything that has bothered you recently or putting on an act.

Usually, by hiding who you really are, it actually has the opposite effect on your life than people want and expect out of it. If you keep yourself sheltered and closed up, less people will want to reach out and try to be your friend. People will simply think you don’t want to be a friend to them, and they’ll give up.

You should never be afraid of who you really are, because who’s to say what’s “acceptable” or not? Who gets to define you as “cool” or “popular?”

You’re in control of your own life and you decide if you’re going to live with hiding your true personality or if you’re going to shine out and be 100% you! If you are yourself and you stop caring about other’s opinions, true friends will find you.

Sophomore Stephanie Yurks is someone who is totally comfortable being herself, and has been so her entire life.

She said, “I don’t care how others see me. I know who I am and what I want from life, so I don’t let others get to me. I love being my own person.”

Yurks has also had her fair share of bad days. When others try to make her feel like who she is isn’t acceptable or “right,” she said, “I talk to my mom about it and keep my friends close.”

To those who aren’t yet comfortable with who they are, Yurks said to, “Do little things that build your confidence and start from there. Once you’re comfortable with who you are, then show others that side of you.”
Someone who hasn’t always been so comfortable with himself shared his experience.

Sophomore Clay Carlton said, “All of middle school and freshman year I didn’t want anyone to know anything about me because I thought people would make fun of me. I wanted to keep it in as much as I could.”

Lately, Carlton has found that being himself is much better.

“I finally realized one day that nobody cares about what I wear or what I do. Nobody can tell me no if I want to be myself,” he said.

Carlton has been in the shoes of someone who was once very uncomfortable with who he was, so his words of advice to those like he was are as follows: “Don’t let anyone make you scared to be yourself because it’s better to have friends that like who you are instead of have friends that like you for who you’re not.”

Truth be told, the people who are going to judge you aren’t ever going to be good friends with you. They’re definition of “cool” probably isn’t something worth being a part of if it means that you have to hide and be ashamed of what makes you who you are.

Whoever is going to put you down about an imperfection or interest probably has just as many, and maybe more, things that they are insecure about that could be pointed out about them and criticized. Nobody is perfect, but if you love yourself like you are, you will surely have a great time being you.