‘I was put on this planet to make a difference’: Life as an online BeatBullying Mentor

This guest blog was written BeatBullying Mentor Hannah, aged 16. Here she shares her experiences and feelings of helping others at their most vulnerable.

I’ve been an online BeatBullying Mentor for two and a half years, and I volunteer because I feel that my own experiences can benefit others. I believe I was put on this planet to make a difference, to be kind and helpful.

I had been physically and emotionally bullied, and cyberbullied myself, and ever since then I have been very passionate about preventing bullying. I feel my experiences have helped me with understanding how the bullies themselves might be feeling. Being an online mentor is a way of taking bad events in my past, and turning them into something almost hopeful, allowing other people to realise they are not alone and someone can help them.

Building trust online

When I’m mentoring others, I find that establishing common ground between the mentee and myself begins a good online relationship. Talking for a bit every so often, even about nothing in particular, can build the person’s trust. It’s all about having patience and understanding the other person’s feelings and thoughts.

There’s more of a sense of freedom and independence when mentoring over the internet because you may not know the person at all, and they may feel able to talk to you more freely because they don’t know you.

Turning lives around

Understandably, there are times when I might feel like I have my own problems to deal with before mentoring others. Then I remember the most amazing feeling of having someone tell you that you turned their life around. Now that feeling is enough to motivate you to do anything, especially to keep on living.

BeatBullying are traveling from London to deliver a workshop at Fast Forward and Crew’s conference Taking the Lead: Peer Led Approaches for Young People on June 6th 2014. Click here for more info and tickets: https://peerlededi.eventbrite.co.uk/