She walks down the hallway; her head down as she tries to ignore their piercing stares and menacing laughter. The tears cascade down her face; as each second ticks by her strong façade shatters.

He holds his books close and pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he speeds through the halls in an attempt to stay disregarded. His heart racing as he dodges the crowd. It’s been a long day- he just wants to get home.

She runs into her room and finds herself staring into her mirror.

He locks himself in his room and stares at his reflection in the mirror.

What do they see?

Her sobs tear through the silence of her room as their acerbic words echo in her ears.

“STUPID”

“UGLY”

“FAT”

“NERD”

His hushed tears mirror the pain of their actions. “PUSH”

“SHOVE”

“KICK”

“PUNCH”

The pain engulfs them and mercilessly suffocates them both as their walls come crumbling down in defeat...

We all know what bullying is; what it does to people and how it makes them feel. But the question is: What do we do about it? Have you ever witnessed someone getting bullied? Have you ever done something about it?

Bullying doesn’t have to be physical, verbal abuse is also counted as bullying. A personal attack on someone because of their race, religion, appearance, personality and habits is classed as bullying.

So let me ask you now...Have you ever bullied someone?

If you have, think about what you did- the words you’ve said or the violence you’ve shown towards that person. Did you ever think of how that would make them feel; how it affects them?

Now think about this- if it was done to you, how would you feel?

Don’t you know that the labels that you’ve given them are the ones that stick with them the most?

Well, now you know and this ends now.

Defeat the Label is a recently developed ‘Anti-Bullying’ organisation for teens across the globe to share their stories, to be heard and to stand up against bullying. It’s where teens can get guidance and support from others that are in/ have been in a similar situation- it’s a place where all the labels we’ve been given are defeated- together.

In addition to the numerous services that they provide, Defeat the Label provides ideas for schools to take on board and introduce to the students- they even sell DtL merchandise for everyone to purchase and to wear proudly as they continue to defeat labels.

You can visit their website for more information and support or maybe to even share your story and inspire others at www.defeatthelabel.com Bullying is only one of the countless problems in today’s society but it is also probably one of the easiest to end too. It’s time that we take a stand- it’s time that we stand up and be heard; its time put an end to bullying. “Enough is enough. It’s time to ‘Defeat the Label’.”