Growing up is a serious business, and it doesn’t go easy on anyone.
To my mind, nobody has it harder than girls in their preteens. Being a teenager can be awful, but ages 10–12 are truly brutal. If you’ve ever been or known a girl in middle-school, you know that to be a fact.
The tragedy is that this age, when bodies are changing and bullies are at the height of their power, is also the most vulnerable time for many young women. Situations that seem minor are often catastrophic to preteens. And even when teens respond to cyber-bullying with positivity, the antagonism has only gotten worse with the rise of social media.
Rebecca Sedwick was a smart, lovely girl of 12 when the pressures of growing up became too much for her. She committed suicide in 2013, in a desperate bid to escape the constant bullying that followed her on social media.
Now, on the second anniversary of Rebecca’s death, her mother Tricia Norman is doing everything she can to raise awareness about the challenges that bright young kids like her daughter face every day, much like fellow mom Amy Briggs, who took her own stand against bullying.
Tricia started a non-profit in her daughter’s memory, called Rebecca’s Stand Against Bullying. And that’s just the start of her big plan to eradicate bullying.
If Tricia and Rebecca’s tragic story touched your heart, please SHARE on Facebook to remind everyone to keep a close eye on what’s happening on their child’s social media account.
