A lot of people are affected by bullying today and the worst part is that a lot of the people who are affected by this are children. These terrible acts are usually kept in the shadows while only a handful of people actively stand up against the bully and empower those who are being bullied.
One of these unsung heroes who stand up against bullying is the 17-year old Lauren Brocious. Lauren is a teenager from Virginia who one day decided that it was time for her to start her own campaign against bullying. She did so in response to rude comments she saw posted on to one of her friend's Instagram page.
Brocious filmed the "#labels" video in her bedroom and since then the video has gained quite a bit of traction online, especially on social media. At first, she wanted to reply to those comments but then changed her mind. "My first reaction was that I wanted to comment back and give them what they deserved, but then, I thought that would make no sense stooping down to their level," she said in an interview with ABC News.
In the video, Lauren has her hair pulled back and her face and neck are completely covered with insults and other offensive slurs. She even has the words "KILL YOU" written at the base of her neck.
She then asks her viewers what would happen if these terrible words were wiped away. She tells her viewers that they are better than the horrid words people define them with. She then wipes her skin, revealing positive words such as happy, cute, and pretty written in bright green.
"When we start defining ourselves by positive words and positive actions... our self-esteem skyrockets," she says in the video. She ends the video by saying "You define you."
