Mean certainly does stink. I was bullied in High School and wish I had an outlet like Secret’s Mean Stinks Campaign. Secret deodorant has created this Facebook community site for young women to gain the courage and strength to speak up to a stinky behavior….bullying. Amber Riley, best known as Mercedes on the hit FOX show Glee, and Rachel Simmons, a nationally known relationship expert and New York Times bestselling author have teamed up with Secret to start a movement of “nice.” Secret is also partnering with PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center by donating a portion of the proceeds from select Secret Clinical Strength purchases to its prevention efforts.
To understand the depth of this “stinky” epidemic, Secret commissioned a Survey of 1,000 young women, ages 16-21 to prove the seriousness of bullying beyond grade school and has even intensified with the explosion of cyberbullying. The stats were unsettling to me as I believe they will be to you.
58% indicated they have been bullied by another girl in the past.
76% know a friend who has been bullied in the past.
48% of college aged students have experienced or witnessed bullying or mean behavior at college or work.
There can be intense emotional reactions to bullying and this is where we must all do our part in helping to stop this. Emotions seem to always feel fresh upon memory and these feelings can last a lifetime.
70% of people who have been bullied in the past felt angry after being bullied.
64% of people who have been bullied in the past felt depressed after being bullied.
67% of people who have been bullied in the past felt lonely/alone after being bullied.
And a whopping 96% agreed that bullying can hurt a young woman’s self esteem.
On their site, young women are encouraged to share a compliment, get advice from others on sticky situations, submit apologies for being mean, link to e-store to purchase exclusive Mean Stinks t-shirts and to receive advice from one of the experts herself, Rachel Simmons.
I don’t normally get too personal in my articles, but I did mention it above that I was bullied. It was in High School as it lasted for nearly two years. I still get uncomfortable whenever I think back to those fearful days and quiver at the mere mention of the bully’s name. I actually was afraid to go to school sometimes. Now I see my 9 year old daughter having challenges with other children at her school and we are working together as a family to encourage positive reactions towards their negative behavior. Believe it or not, I started to see some bullying as early as in first grade. We owe it to our children and ourselves to make this world a more positive place to live in.
I salute SECRET for creating this Facebook page and their movement to encourage being “nice.”
– Nicole Gordon Levine
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