As promised, some facts:

• One out of every four students (22%) report being bullied during the school year (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015)
• The reasons for being bullied most often cited by students were looks (55%), body shape (37%), and race (16%) (Davis and Nixon, 2010)
• Only 36% reported the bullying to an adult or other authority figure (Petrosina, Guckenburg, DeVoe, and Hanson, 2010)

Being #AbovetheInfluence isn’t just about saying no to drugs, or saying no to alcohol, or saying no to cigarettes. It can also apply to another serious subject: bullying.

It is so easy to get caught up with friends and go along with the crowd, even when that means hurting someone else. And in the heat of the moment, we tend to forget that our actions have consequences. Sometimes pretty serious ones. Bullied victims are 7 to 9% more likely to consider suicide according to a study by Yale University. Similarly, studies in Britain have found half of the suicides among youth related to bullying. According to yet another study by ABC News over 30,000 children stay home every day due to the fear of being bullied.

Bullying can be physical and emotional, and it can take place in person and online. Whether or not you’ve helped perpetuate it, believe it or not, you have the ability to help end it — more than half of bullying situations (57%) stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler, and Craig, 2001).

Are you someone that wants to put others down, or would you rather raise them up? Think about it, and decide for yourself. We can be Above the Influence of Bullying. #LetsEndIt.

Have you experienced bullying? Or intervened to help stop it? Join — or start — the conversation on our Facebook page.