Celebrities Help Prevent Bullying by Sharing Their Stories
Bullying is a hot topic these days, and stories of celebrities who have been bullied are even hotter. Olympic champ Michael Phelps talked about his experiences being bullied his story generated international interest.
Victoria Beckham(aka Posh Spice, one-fifth of hit pop music group The Spice Girls) has talked openly about being bullied in school. Recently she said, “People would push me around, say they were going to beat me up after school, chase me. It was miserable, my whole schooling, miserable. I tried to be friends with people, but I didn’t fit in. So I kept myself to myself.” There is value to these conversations because it shows that even a beautiful, famous and talented celebrity was tormented in school. If she can be bullied, anyone can.
And even Presidential candidate Barak Obama talked about bullying in his presidential nominee acceptance speech, elevating bullying education to a national platform.
Why are people fascinated with discovering that celebrities were victims of school bullying? Is it comforting for bullying victims to know that someone else (and a celebrity, no less!) shared their fate, i.e., misery loves company? Or maybe it’s nice to know that someone successful had been beaten down and yet rose beyond the experience. In other words, maybe bullying victims really can have the last laugh.