Bash Out Bullying

"Blue hearts for her beautiful blue eyes," is what students at Texas City High School are saying about Brandy Vela. Brandy was 18 years old and took her own life due to bullying. Brandy was relentlessly bullied about her weight and the bullying became worse in April. People would make up fake Facebook pages and say mean things about her. She would ignore them, but they were very persistent. Brandy even changed her phone number and went to the police who said they could not help her. The Texas Police Department could not trace back to the source of the bullying due to the bullies using an untraceable app. She shot and killed herself in front of her family as they pleaded her not to. Bullying is serious and is taking innocent lives every single day. This is a really strong message to stop bullying and to simply be kind. We do not want anymore innocent lives to end. Stay Strong & Stay Positive, Courtney Jay 💙

Since the election of the 45th president took place over 600 hate crimes have taken place. About 65% of the crimes took place three days after the election. The examples are countless, but I will name a few. In Washington a racial slur was spray painted on the side of Spokane's Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center. The director of the center said that children saw the graffiti before going to school. Another example is a teen in California said that white students painted 'whites only' above a few water fountains. The hate crimes are not only race related, but they surround the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, and other religious groups as well. Many of these hate crimes are to intimidate these groups and dehumanize them. I believe it is safe to say that Donald Trump has a part to play in this. During his campaign he said things such as, " We have to have a wall. We have to have a border. And in that wall we're going to have a big fat door where peopl...

Off the grid… Hey everyone! I know I have been off the grid for a while and I am so sorry! As you know it’s my senior year of high school and it has been busy and hectic to say the least! Where do I start, I was one of the cheer captains for my school’s football cheer squad, I am a member of student council, I am a Peer Minister at school, I’m in TASH a program through Planned Parenthood and a college prep program Strive through Washington University just to name a few things. I’ve also been finishing up college visits, college applications and searching for scholarships opportunities too, every day I have a to-do list with a goal of marking off as many tasks as possible! While I have been off the grid as for as writing on my blog, I still try my best to post on my social media pages and re-share stories about bullying and neat and interesting articles about positive friendships. I’ve also had several speaking engagements with various youth groups sharing my story about being bullie...

Hello Bashers! I am so sorry that I haven't posted, but school has started! This is my senior year of high school and it is already filled with so many things to do. I have so many Bash Out Bullying presentations, football games to cheer at, student council meetings, peer ministry meetings, and many other things. I will try to blog as frequently as possible, and will looking for people to join the BOB team and help out! If you are interested or know someone who may want to contribute some stories to my blog please let me know! With that being said, I hope everyone is having an awesome school year so far!  Stay Strong & Stay Positive, Courtney Jay 💜

Hello Bashers! I had the opportunity to attend the YWCA Future Leaders Program and had an amazing time! I met 13 other beautiful young women leaders as well as met so many positive women in the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) community! We had several team building experiences and my personal favorite was rock climbing at Upper Limits! We had to do many group challenges which involved trust and problem-solving. Everyday we had the chance to speak with powerful women all over the St.Louis community and I learned so much! I am so grateful for the connections I made at the program with not only influential women, but the young women in the program  next to me! The last day we had to explain what our favorite part of program was, I chose the relationships I built with the girls. I read this poem to everyone: Wherever life takes me Whatever hills I may climb Or tumble down: Whatever joy I feel Or whatever makes me frown:  I'm so glad I met friends like you to alon...

Good Morning Bashers! It has been two long blog-less weeks so I hope you are all ready! I am very excited to tell you all about my trip in New York that will be broken up into a few blogs! Day 1: So for those of you who don't know, I was picked for the ANNpower Vital Voices Leadership Forum in New York! I had never been to NY so I couldn't wait! I woke up on Tuesday morning ready to embark on my new adventure. My mom drove me to the airport and I waited about an hour before boarding my flight to Newark! Once I arrived in Newark I had a bit of a challenge finding my bags, but with a little help everything was okay! I then met about 10 ANNpower fellows as we boarded a truck to our hotel, Intercontinental Times Square! After about an hour drive (due to traffic) we arrived at out hotel to meet the other ANNpower fellows! I initially found my roommate named Leigh from Louisiana! Once all 50 of us were situated into the hotel we were told it was time to go to the ANN Inc. offic...

Hello Bashers!  I wanted to let you all know that I am always here  if you need to talk! Part of my mission is to provide tips and suggestions on how to deal with bullying! If you are being bullied, are a bully, a parent, or anyone who feels like they are involved in bullying you can contact me. You can email me at bashoutbullying@gmail.com or send me a direct message on any social media site! I will keep everything you tell me confidential unless you tell me otherwise. I am ALWAYS here to give advice on anything and everything I know about bullying.  Stay Strong & Stay Positive, Courtney Jay 💜