Pheobe Prince was a 15-year-old immigrant from Ireland.

She came to America with her family; settling down in 2009 in Hadley, Massachusetts, and enrolled at South Hadley High school as a freshman. On January 14, 2010, Pheobe Prince ended her life by hanging herself in her apartments stairwell. She was found by her 12-year-old sister. Who should die at 15? This all started because of a boy she dated and 6 mean girls who were jealous and looking to do the wrong thing. This all started because nobody intervened. This all started from bullies. 282,000 students are physically attacked in high schools each month. Why are we not stopping this? Bullying is a wrecking ball on kids and teens lives. Every day it will get even more terrible and unbearable for bullied kids around the globe. Is it just we don't care, or that we are too lazy to take a stand and say enough is enough? Bullying won't stop itself, and bullying will not end with just one person. Bullying will end when we all stand united and say stop. Adult intervention, 4%. Peer intervention, 11%. No intervention, 85%. All those people who don't help those kids and teens affect how they grow up thinking there is no one who cares enough to help them. 1 out of 4 teens are bullied, and every 5 minutes, 47 teens are bullied. And it isnt just at our schools, cyber bullying is becoming an epidemic. 97% of middle schoolers are bullied online. 47% of older youth (18-24) are cyber bullied. Cyber bullying is on the rise, and in dramatic numbers. Even when Pheobe Prince was dead, her Facebook memorial page was attacked. They still mocked her even after death. Along with her torture at school, cyber bullying would not let her escape. If youre not safe at home; where most kids escape to, where are

you safe at? How are you supposed to live if you are not given the opportunity? How are you expected to live if you are not given the opportunity? When Bullying happens in our schools, it affects not only the student itself, but our learning environment. Who will come to school when they are deathly afraid of the harassment they will endure there? When they get bullied in school or in class, they are under the idea that the teacher doesn't care. When the teachers don't care, and nobody likes you and you're all alone, would you go to school? Demetria was just in middle school when her bullying began. They bullied her for one big reason, she was 'fat'. At age 8 she had an eating disorder because she turned to food. At age 11 she started cutting herself. Fortunately, she has gotten treatments for her eating disorder and the cutting. Now most of you know her as Demi Lovato, an amazing singer and judge on the X-factor, and a big supporter of standing up against bullying. She's now an ambassador of the anti-bullying campaign "Mean Stinks" and is a big supporter of 'ganging up for good'. How would you feel if your life was a tortured mess every day until you felt like a useless person to humanity? Everyone would laugh at you, and you would feel so incredibly alone. That's exactly how some kids are treated now a days. To make them feel like their life is meaningless to the world. Is that right? Many kids stay at home to avoid bullying, if they weren't bullied they could spend their time getting an education and making a future for them self There is an anti-bullying campaign called Utterly Global. Its mission is to stand up, speak out, and end bullying. They make points of how we are not a one size fits all society.

They have training workshops in for things like Bully Prevention and Intervention. Also, there is an anti-bullying program called Bully Prevention Initiative of California. They want people to put a stop to bullying and what kids our age and younger go through. They want teachers and staff of schools from elementary to high school to actually make a difference and put a stop to bullying in our schools. Here at Kennedy, we have clubs for lots of teens to join, so they can make friends with people with interests like them. They can finally fit in, and have a good time doing it. They can meet people who just might understand their problems, and it could actually be enough to get them through the day. It's time to take a stand against bullying. Many people here at John F. Kennedy High School don't want to see their best friend take their life. Many people in this class don't want their best friends dead only because they didn't stop what was happening to them. We can all make a difference by stopping bullies and putting an end to the humiliation and suffering that people go through. We can make the dream of stopping bullying, a reality. We can all do this as long as we try and get the word out there. So what if it only starts with this class? Sooner or later it could be the school that is anti-bullying. Sooner or later it could be the city of Los Angeles that is against bullying. And sooner or later, it could be the nation. Do it for the child who just want to live and become something great. Do it for a teen who wants to do something with their life. Do it for your brother or sister, who might just be suffering. So I plead with you to stop someone the next time they are bullying someone.

Because all those should of's, could of's, would of's, then didn'ts will matter. It will matter because that one person just might take their life. Then you'll be left thinking; what i could have done; what i should have done. If you know somebody whos being bullied, focus now on what you can do for them next time. Focus now on what you will do for them next time. So I beg of you to try, and just don't forget to do the right thing, because next time, it could be you. Next time it could be your best friend, sister, or brother. Don't let this happen to anyone. Your actions define you. Your actions affect others. Your actions can make change possible. As Barack Obama has said,"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."