[Z]oe Saldana is one of the most successful African-American actresses to grace the silver screen. We’ve witnessed her take on some of the most epic roles and dominate the characters in which she has played. Best known for her parts in science fiction and action movies, Saldana has starred in countless box office hits including “Takers,” “Avatar,” “Star Trek,” and “Colombiana,” just to name a few.
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75% of school shootings have been linked to harassment and bullying against the shooter. |
Recently the “Book of Life” actress visited the “The Queen Latifah Show” and shared some insight about her life in and out of the spotlight. To our surprise, the new mom-to-be revealed that as a former tomboy, she was often a victim of bullying growing up.
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| Zoe Saldana sat down with Queen Latifah to have a conversation about her career. One of the topics that came up was bullying. The actress revealed that she was picked on as a kid and had to work to over come the traumatic experience. |
The award-winning actress sat down with Queen Latifah to explain the difficulties of being bullied and how she was able to overcome and learn from that experience.
According to “Bullying: Bully No More” by June Hunt, bullying is defined as “any deliberate, hostile, physical, psychological, or verbal activity involving an imbalance of power with the intent to harm and induce fear.”
Based on a study by Nobullying.com, 83% of girls and 79% of boys report being bullied either in school or online. Of that number, 20% of U.S. students in grades 9-12 have reportedly experienced bullying or are feeling bullied, while 28% of students in grades 6-12 report the same. It has also been reported that 75% of school shootings have been linked to harassment and bullying against the shooter.
With the recent rise in social media, cyberbullying has become one of the more popular forms of bullying amongst middle and high school students.
“It was really hard, I love women, but for a longtime in my life when I was younger, I sort of gave up on trying to find female friends,” Zoe revealed. “Girls can sometimes be a little too mean with each other and I don’t know where it comes from. As opposed to us uniting, we kind of tend to pick each other apart. It was very difficult.”
To some, Zoe Saldana’s issue with bullying may seem like a small issue, but consider this. Bullying is the most common form of violence over 13,000,000 young people will experience this year. In fact, the act results in over 160,000 kids skipping school each day. The issue is so serious, that Attorney General Eric Holder stepped in to act.
Holder and celebrities like Grant Hill and newsman Anderson Cooper recently partnered with The Cartoon Network to take part in the “I Speak Up” series of PSA’s aimed at ending bullying.
“Bullying and harassment can have devastating effects on kids of all ages,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “That’s why, alongside our partners at the Department of Education, the Justice Department is striving to reduce abusive behavior against and among students of every grade level. We’re committed to promoting safe and inclusive learning environments for all of America’s young people.”
Students are encouraged to report any incident that they experience or witness to a trusted adult or authorities. But most importantly, for those experiencing any form of bullying, overcoming starts with you.
“Nobody bullies when they’re happy. So the bully is the unhappiest person around you at the moment…he’s the one that’s most scared, he’s the one that has very little regard for himself (a very poor self-esteem), so once you understand that reality about a bully, you’ve won already,” Zoe stated.
