PERSONAL ADVICE teenscene A Time to Fight Back By being aware of the signs of bullying, both students and their parents can help put an end to this terrible trend among teenagers hen Jules Rosario was crowned Tennessee’s Per- fect Junior Teen last summer, she knew exactly what her platform was going to be and how she could use her title to make a difference. Jules was going to speak out against bullying. Jules is a 14-year old with a passion for speaking out against bullying. She is an upcoming sophomore at Sullivan South High School in Kingsport, TN. Her passion for putting a stop to bully- ing is a result of experiencing bullying first hand. Jules has been bullied physically, mentally, on the internet, and by personal threats. This personal experience is the inspiration for Jules’ non- profit organization, The Stop Bullying Foundation, Inc. Jules’ middle school years were filled with incidents and episodes of her being bullied. She first experienced bullying in the 6th Grade when she changed her extra-cur- ricular activities from playing sports to modeling and pageants. She was the target of threats and physical bullying from a group of fellow students. Jules has contin- ued to be a target of these students’ bullying over the past 2 years, but she has taken the proper steps and notified teachers and adults about the bullying. The goal of the foundation and website is to help reach kids that are being bullied or have been bullied and to give them an op- portunity to come forward with their story. She hopes to be able to make a difference in the lives of fellow students by saving them from feeling the way she has. As a Tennessee non-profit foundation in the fight against bul- lying, Jules’ work includes: W ● Working with the Sullivan County Sheriff ’s Dept. on a Stop Bullying Camp for summer 2012. ● Working with the Sullivan County Health Dept. to commu- nicate Stop Bullying information throughout the county. ● Speaking to the Sullivan County Board of Education about bullying in schools and her crusade to put a stop to it. ● Appearing on “Daytime Tri-Cities” to speak about the need to Stop Bullying. ● Featured speaker at the Women’s Expo. Jules was able to speak out against bullying and she spoke to parents about what they need to know about bullying. ● Participating on a panel discussion regarding bullying in local school PTA meetings. ● Designing t-shirts with her message on them to help spread the word about stop- ping bullying. Her goal with the proceeds from the shirts will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to help purchase train- ing materials for them to use to educate students on ending bullying. Jules’ motto is “Stop Bullying Before it Stops You”. Jules’ middle school years were filled with incidents and episodes of her being bullied. 80 PAGEANTRY WHAT EXACTLY IS BULLYING? A bully is someone who enjoys threatening others, picks on people, and uses words to hurt others mentally or physically. Bullying can be: ● Physical, mental, emotional, and now cyber. ● It can be someone calling you names. ● Someone picking on you. ● Someone threatening you harm. CROWNING CONEPTS Continued on page 88