Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Abby Raymond, Team USA Weightlifter, and multiple-time youth weightlifting National Champion.
Today I want to talk to you about bullying and bullying prevention, and there are three things I’d like you to know:
First, bullying can be common in sports. If you see bullying on a team, tell your coach or a trusted adult.
Second, if you think the way someone is being treated is wrong, you are probably right. Trust your instincts.
And third, despite all our many differences, everyone deserves to be treated with respect.
Bullying behaviors can be direct, such as name-calling, intimidating, or punching.
And bullying behaviors can be indirect, such as spreading rumors or cyber bullying.
Often bullying isn’t just a simple case of good-guy verses bad-guy.
Bullying behaviors often arise after someone experiences trauma, so try to practice empathy towards both the person getting bullied AND the person displaying bullying behaviors.
Even though I am the strong, confident, and courageous person you see today, I too have experienced bullying.
I had just returned home from my first Olympic & Paralympic Training Center camp and was looking forward to starting my 7th grade year.
I was having a lot of success in weightlifting and was looking forward to sharing stories about my success with my classmates.
Unfortunately, though, when I got back to school, my classmates started calling me names and making comments about my body.
The teasing progressed to physical bullying and hazing. People would take my lunch from me, throw things at me, and steal my water bottle and throw them down the hallway at school.
Online, other classmates were photoshopping images of me and spreading those images around the school, as well as starting rumors about me.
By the end of the school year, I was having a really hard time coping and struggled with my mental health.
All I wanted was to be accepted by my classmates.
I began questioning my purpose and asking myself if others would be better off without me.
My thoughts were progressively getting more and more distressed until a teammate on my soccer team reached out to me and asked if I would like to join her for a game night at her church.
I hadn’t talked with this girl very much, wasn’t all that interested in a game night, and I was not very invested in the soccer team I played on. However, I was not about to turn down one of the very few opportunities being offered to me to have fun with someone my age.
This random act of kindness by my teammate – reaching out and welcoming me into her community – turned out to be exactly the support and encouragement I needed.
Her community was very kind. They accepted and encouraged me to find my purpose in something bigger than myself.
They helped me see that my opinion of myself was rooted in something much greater than the rumors, snickering, and teasing I received from my classmates.
I realized I had a lot to be proud of – I still do – and I began to love the sport of weightlifting again.
Looking back, although it was definitely not easy, I wouldn’t change my experience.
It helped shape me into who I am today and gave me a much more positive outlook on life and on sport.
Now I just get to look forward to reaching my goal of going to the next Olympic Games.
If you are experiencing bullying, there are some things you can do to help yourself:
- Trust your instincts and know you have a right to be treated respectfully.
- Talk with someone you can trust and keep talking about it until you find the support you need.
- Do not respond to cyber bullying and keep a record of the messages you receive just in case.
- Treating others with respect in the same way you would like to be treated.
If you are a bystander who is witnessing bullying, there are some ways you can support the person being bullied:
- Try being an active bystander by speaking up and asking the bully to stop.
- Walk away and get help.
- Comfort the person being bullied and offer friendship.
- Intervene and stand next to the victim to offer your support.
- Whatever you do, do not try to fight the bully as it can make the situation worse.
We all come from different experiences, backgrounds, and cultures.
Every one of us has a right to be treated with respect, regardless of our real or perceived differences.
So, I encourage you to be a TrueSport athlete and citizen, to speak up if and when you see bullying, and to practice kindness first.
