Letting others know about your culture, values, and personal characteristics can help to reduce the stigma, or negative stereotypes associated you’re your unique qualities. If people are informed, sometimes their minds can open and they can learn to accept diversity and differences in people.  Begin by talking about yourself with people whom you trust and feel like you can confide in. The more you practice being confident while talking about yourself, your history, and your culture, the easier it will be. Unfortunately, being different including having a disability or being overweight, can sometimes increase social rejection or bullying. If certain people put you down or call you names, you can deal with this appropriately by being assertive with them. Assertiveness means being open about how you think and feel, while being respectful toward the other person.  An example of assertiveness is using, “I statements.” An example would be if you said, “I feel angry when you say that I am weird.” Here, you focus on your own feelings instead of on the other person’s behavior. Their behavior is secondary to how you feel. You could follow up this statement with further explanation by saying, “I am different, but we all are. I would appreciate it if you didn’t call me weird. I respect you, and I expect to be treated fairly in return.” Another way to be assertive is to set a boundary. For example, you could say, “I would like for you to stop calling me weird. If you decide to continue, I will need to get distance from you. I won’t tolerate being called names.” If you are bullied consistently either verbally or physically, get help from teachers, counselors, or the principle of your school. Look up Led Zeppelin, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, and the hippie movement, there is a lot to learn from them. They are, in the opinion of some, the original unique and cool people. They stood out in a crowd, dared to be different, and some of them even risked their lives in order to fight for what they believed in. Develop a role model or personal hero that you can look up to. Think about how this person might act and behave if she was in your situation.
اجعل الآخرين يعرفون عنك. كن حازمًا مع المتذمرين والمستهزئين. اعرف أكثر عن الأشخاص "المختلفين".