Resilient teen helping bullied children

After overcoming years of bullying, a St Ann teenager has used her experience to launch an anti-bullying campaign in schools.

Tara-Chande Giles, 18, said she saw the need to let her voice be heard after she was intimidated, to the point where she had to seek professional help after her mental health was affected.

"What I do now is to use my experience to motivate others, so I will go in the schools and just talk to the students and give pointers on how they can deal with it. I help them to raise their self-esteem and encourage them to speak out and get help against violence in school and bullying," she said.

"I have seen videos of recent school fights and instances where they lead to students getting seriously injured or even killed, and that is really heartbreaking. It makes me feel really bad. One of the things I have realised is that some of the bullies are being bullied at home. So this is played out on others in the school. Therefore, some of the bullies are victims as well," she said.

Giles, who is also a finalist in this year's Miss Universe Jamaica pageant, has made stops at Northgate High School, and Ocho Rios Primary School, both in St Ann. The St Hilda's past student recalled how she hated her physical appearance because of negative comments.

"I was called a lot of names, and a lot of rumours were spread about me. I was constantly told how ugly I was until I believed I was. I was told that I didn't shape good, among a lot of other things. Students used to throw paper balls at me whenever I was in the bus and it was just awful," she said. "I went through a lot of depression and it got really deep, where I started having suicidal thoughts. All of this happened during primary and high school. My self-esteem was lowered and I had a lot of anger stored up inside of me." Giles admitted that many days, she didn't want to go to school. "I would pretend to be sick just not to leave the house and be in the same environment as these children, as I was traumatised," Giles said. She said that when the burden became overbearing, she turned to her mother, Semonie 'Maroon Queen' Giles, for assistance.

"My mother helped me significantly and taught me how to embrace and accept myself. My mother is a recording artiste and she always sings about black empowerment, so that motivates me a lot as well," she said.

Maroon Queen told THE STAR that it was devastating watching her daughter hit rock bottom and found ways for her to embrace and love herself.

"When I learnt that she was having suicidal thoughts, it broke me. I let her know that beauty first came from within. I had to get her professional counselling, and following that, I also started bringing her around other models as I am a fashion designer as well. I would let her model the outfits, and that boosted her confidence as well. When she began seeing how well she was being received, it helped her. I taught her the importance of self-worth," she said.

Last month, tensions escalated among students at several Corporate Area high schools, leading to violent clashes that left several students nursing injuries. Last Monday, a female student was also fatally stabbed by another at a school in Mandeville, Manchester.