00:00I was sad. I was distraught. It really affected me because at that point in time, my self-esteem was
00:06not where it is for today because, like I said, I was going through this illness as a young age.
00:13I had my home burnt down that same year. It was a very tragic time. So my self-esteem just
00:18was not where it needed to be. So it did hurt quite a lot. I found myself crying a lot.
00:24Home, also crying. So it impacted me very negatively.
00:28Tiana remembers being laughed at in a crowded cafeteria at school because of how she looked, being mocked in public.
00:36She remembers running to empty classrooms and crying because she didn't understand why something she couldn't control had become something
00:44others felt entitled to make fun of. Today, she has risen above the hurt.
00:51Well, one of the symptoms for hyperthyroidism is bulging eyes. So that is one of the things I would have
00:58been bullied for a lot in school. But I quickly rose. You know, I decided that I'm not going to
01:03allow the perceptions of others to become the perceptions of myself. And this is where the organization would have been
01:10born from.
01:10Secretary of Youth Empowerment and Sport, Keegan De Noon, said the THA and specifically the Division of Education has a
01:20zero tolerance policy on bullying in schools, but more education of the youth is needed.
01:26As it pertains to bullying in schools that she would have experienced, I know that the Secretary for Education has
01:32a zero tolerance on bullying.
01:33And listening to her story this morning, it is something that we have to educate our students on. You may
01:40see someone with some deformities, you may see someone going through something, but you don't understand it.
01:46And I think educating them would allow them to appreciate better and to work with them and be a support
01:51mechanism for students who are suffering with chronic illness rather than bullying and teasing them.
01:56The launch took place at the audiovisual unit of the Scarborough Library. Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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