Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Anti-Bullying Kid of the Week: Dare to be Different

WGN Radio, June 9, 2015

"Camille Paddock started an anti-bullying organization… and she’s sixteen. She was a victim of some pretty severe bullying, and now she’s entering pageants! Her story is very inspiring, and you can read more of her story below:

My daughter Camille is a 16 year old sophomore at Huntley high school in Huntley IL. She is the founder of a non for profit 501c3 anti bullying organization called Cam’s Dare to be different. Camille was a victim of bullying for years due to her alopecia. Alopecia is an auto immune disease that causes hair loss with no cure. Her hair started to fall out in about the 4th grade. She loss about 65% or so of her hair on the top of her head. We got pretty good at hiding it by parting her hair differently. In the 7th grade her hair started to grow back but she loss one and half of her eyebrows. The bullying started at that point. The bullies who were once her friends called her names like Freak and hairless cat. They would meow at her and laugh, they shoved her in the halls and threw food at her during lunch. She loss all of her friends except for one because they were afraid of being bullied. She felt alone and humiliated daily! I went to the school but nothing was done and the bullying just got worse. I watch helplessly as my once outgoing straight A student go into a deep dark hole. Nothing we said helped." Read more

For tips and resources to talk to your teen about preventing bullying, visit our Resource Center here.

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