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Stand up to bullies, young actress tells kids

Posted by Esmee on 07 Jul 2010 • 0 Comments

Stand up to bullies, young actress tells kids
July 7th, 2010 || By Jay R. Thompson

Local youngsters got advice on dealing with bullying from someone their own size last week.

Teen actress Sammi Hanratty visited Baltimore County's Summer Playground programs at Arbutus Middle School and the Bloomsbury Community Center to tell the children even television stars have to deal with bullies.

"I've been teased a lot for my size because I'm short, but I've learned to like that about me," the 4-foot-11 actress said at the Bloomsbury Community Center July 1 after an earlier appearance in Arbutus.

The 14-year-old has appeared in the television programs such as "Pushing Daisies" and "The Unit," among others, but younger audiences know her better from her roles in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" on the Disney Channel and "iCarly" on Nickelodeon.

In the 2009 film "An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong," she starred as 10-year-old Chrissa, a fourth-grader who gets bullied by a more popular girl.

Following the release of the movie, Sammi became spokeswoman for the Center for Social and Emotional Education's "BullyBust" website, which aims to reduce bullying among children.

The theme of her talk last week was "be an up-stander, not a bystander," and the children seemed to get the message.

"I learned a little bit more about how to stand up for other people," said Ian Bennett, 9.

The Catonsville resident said he has experienced bullying.

"I have been pushed around," he said.

Sammi told the group of an incident earlier this year when she and a friend were at an ice-skating rink in California. A group of boys at the rink wouldn't leave her alone.

"They were cursing at me and they were saying really bad things," she said. "They just came up to me and said 'You're the ugliest girl I've ever seen.' "
Sammi didn't handle it well.

"When it comes to standing up for myself, I'm really not great," she said. "I started crying."

Her friend, however, stood up for her.

"She just told them to leave me alone, and then we just took off our skates and walked away," she said.

Sammi learned something about her friend.

"I know that she'll always have my back and I'll always have her back," she said.

During her presentation, Sammi encouraged her young audience to invite the new kid at their school to join their group of friends so the newcomer will have someone to stand up for them.

When you're bullied or you see someone being bullied, tell an adult, she said.
"Always go to someone that you really trust," she said.

Sammi attended public schools through third grade, but has been in private schools as well as home schooling during filming. Still, bullies find her.

"Cyber-bullying today is probably the number one form of bullying," said Ellen Hanratty, Sammi's mother, who was also at the sessions. "She's bullied online all the time.".

Following the discussion on bullying, Sammi answered questions about her personal likes and dislikes and what it is like being on a television show. She also signed autographs for her young fans.

Source: ExploreBartimoreCounty.com