Now that the holidays are coming to an end, our bellies are full from all the food we’ve eaten and bags overflowing with wrapping paper and bottles line the streets. Many can say that this holiday has been a good one, yet unfortunately for many this is not the case. As reported on ditchthelabel.org, 1.5 million young people have been bullied in the last year in the UK, and 19% percent of that daunting digit represents those who have suffered on a daily basis. Bullying is never right; it lowers self-esteem, sometimes to the point of suicide, and as a community we should try to decrease this statistic alongside other unjust issues today- such as rape and sexual violence. While we cannot be heroes and save the world on our own, if we work collectively to reduce these statistics, gradually the life of those around us and even our own will begin to improve too.

Over the Christmas break, I wanted to try to increase the self-esteem among my fellow peers and demote bullying and sexual violence/rape. My efforts may have been futile, but if even a few people appreciated the efforts then it would be worthwhile. A little thing can go a long way.

On the last school day of 2016, I purchased candy canes and decided to attach them to peers lockers. I had around 100 candy canes in total, and arrived at school as soon as the gates opened in  order to complete my mission, and probably looked pretty suspicious as I went around from locker to locker. Shortly after my arrival, I bumped into a friend who became my comrade for the rest of the task, other than her only few friends knew it was me who gave people candy canes- as this would prevent me from hearing biased opinions on what people thought. This was only a small gesture, yet quite a few people seemed quite cheerful because of it. They said things including:

“That’s so cute, it literally made my day”

“It’s nice that someone took the time to do a little thing to make so many people happy”

I also partook in campaigns on dosomething.org. One campaign I decided to partake in was the #WeAreAble campaign, which aims to reduce stigma around disability by focusing on abilities, which is very important. According to the campaign’s page, people with disabilities are 2 to 3 times more likely to be bullied than their peers. To take part in the campaign you simply have to write your best ability on a piece of paper, and share a photo of you holding the paper online using the hashtag WeAreAble. The campaign can also be applicable to raising esteem, as it encourages oneself to decide what their best ability is, instead of focusing on things they’d consider flaws.

For this campaign I asked my friends and some family to join in, and it actually shocked me as to how many people I asked seemed very unconfident to the point of not thinking they had any ability at all. In society I believe we’ve generally taken confidence and classed it as vanity, which makes people not want to say they’re good at anything for fear of being judged one way or another. However, to everyone reading this, you all have some kind of ability that defines you in a positive light, and I think it’s time we start to appreciate our own. Please see the gallery above for the collage of photos people have sent me for this campaign.

Another campaign on their website is titled “Just Because” And for this campaign all that’s required is for you to print off the poster online (which read: “Just because he/she/they ____doesn’t mean she wants to f*ck”) fill in the blanks and put the poster up. According to rapecrisis.org.uk, 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped every year in England and Wales. That’s the equivalent of approximately 11 people raped every hour, for a year. And it’s absolutely disgusting.

I printed off gender neutral posters, and filled in the blanks with statements like “wore provocative clothing”, “gave you their number” and “you think they’re asking for it” I also wrote positive messages on sticky notes and posted them on public transport and bathroom mirrors. While I’m not sure if the posters or sticky notes have done much, I can at least say I’ve tried to improve the community, can you?

Chloe Lewis, Dartford Grammar School for Girls