Bullied Teen Taking a stand | Heather Marshall Photography | Turlock Photographer

Bullied Teen speaking out about her story and wanting to share with others that everyone deserves true friends and a fun childhood.

By a simple Google search there are 10 facts about bullying:

1. Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year.
2. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying.
3. 17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month or more within a school semester.
4. 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% of the time.
5. By age 14 less than 30% of boys and 40% of girls will talk to their peers about bullying.
6. Over 67% of students believe that schools respond poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective.
7. 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
8. 90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying.
9. 1 in 10 students drop out of school because of repeated bullying.As boys age they are less and less likely to feel sympathy for victims of bullying. In fact they are more likely to add to the problem than solve it.
10. Physical bullying increases in elementary school, peaks in middle school and declines in high school. Verbal abuse, on the other hand, remains constant.

A young girl who recently had her story shared on News 10 Sacramento about her experience of being bullied at her middle school has caused an enormous outreach and awareness to many about bullying. After years of being bullied it finally became too much and Breanna considered ending her own life. Thank God that she spoke up to her family and now has more support around her than she has ever had. When her story was shared on the news many reached out to her and her family. Support and love have been pouring out from many directions! One special day Breanna was pampered and glammed up for a photo shoot just for her. She began her day with some over the top fun multi colored nails. Followed by hair by one of the best in town! Salon Bellimisso was a fun time. Followed up by professional make up by Christa at Blush beauty lounge. Ending her celebrity treatment was a fantastic photo shoot all while being filmed by Sacramento channel 10 news.

Breanna was bursting with excitement the entire day. Taking selfies to send to her friends, laughing, and never stopped smiling. She thanked me and told me, "Thank you so much! You made me feel beautiful for the first time." Tears instantly began to flow and while hugging we laughed and joked that she couldn't cry! She had a photo shoot to finish!

These days you can see many YouTube videos of young kids bullying their peers to impress their classmates and to get attention for themselves. There is something inside these
kids that feel the need to hurt others and try to destroy their lives. A brokenness inside themselves that can not be healed for whatever the reason may be so they seek to destroy and hurt others.
Sadly the victims of these bullies are more often than not innocent class mates who are stripped away of their happiness and confidence. The light inside of them will quickly fade when they feel threatened and scared. When a young child is being threatened or talked bad about to their peers the worst thing for anyone to do is continue to spread the wild fire of nasty words and to not stand up and defend them. Unfortunately it is more likely that the victim of the bully will lose ‘friends’ or the bullying is happening by people they thought were their friends and few will stand up for them. It will continue to get worse if more children continue to be raised by parents who do not teach them such a simple thing in life. The GOLDEN RULE. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12)

“There is a change in you when you are bullied and you lose your happiness and confidence. You don’t feel joyful, you have bad thoughts about yourself all the time because you begin to believe the things others say about you is true. Until you can listen to your true friends and know that those bad things are not true it is really hard to stand up against bullies.”

Breanna can now feel special and beautiful again knowing that there are far more people out there who will stand by her side, accept her, relate to her, and support her. The choice to share her story and speak up for others who are bullied has touched many hearts! She wants to tell them not to listen to the mean things said about them. You are special. You are loved. You are worth more than gold and if you are a victim of bullying don't be afraid to reach out for help.

To find out more of Breanna Mendoza’s story you can go to any of these links below to follow her story:


http://www.news10.net/story/news/local/modesto/2015/04/13/eighth-grader-fears-school-because-of-bullying/25749435/

http://www.news10.net/story/news/local/modesto/2015/04/14/outpouring-of-support-for-turlock-bullied-girl/25796381/

http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/17/article/29144/

Breanna has touched many people all across the country since her story has gone viral and has especially touched the hearts of many local new FRIENDS she has made!  With a very special group of women we came together and had an incredible day with her that was full of pampering and the celebrity treatment!

 People have been approaching her and her family regularly with hugs and words of encouragement for her. She said at our photo shoot “it’s kind of crazy, these people I don’t even know just saying these nice things to me!”

Thank you Breanna, for hanging out with all of us today and having such a great time together. We all look forward to a life long friendship with you and your family!

(Click the name to get to their Facebook pages)
Blush Beauty and Make up Lounge - Make up by Christa  . Hair By Staffanie and nails by Bianka from Salon Bellissmo in the heart of down Turlock.
Photography by: Heather Marshall . News coverage by Bianca Graulau from News 10 Sacramento