Ariana Said This “I want to start this article by saying I just recently I found out that one of my fans took their own life due to bullying. And even though I never got a chance to meet them in person, I feel like I’ve lost a dear friend. My fans are my family and I never want to see them struggle. It pains me so deeply to see how many lovely young people we’re losing in this world to peer pressure and hurtful words, and I’m going to do my part to make sure that this never happens again.

People tend to think that because I’m a performer and I don’t go to a regular high school that I haven’t personally been affected by bullies. But it’s actually quite the contrary. I still have to deal with people in my everyday life, even adults who act as if they’re in middle school and make it very clear to me that they don’t want me around. Naturally, it’s taken me a long time to figure out how to deal with that. One of the most terrible feelings in the world is knowing that someone else doesn’t like you. Especially when you don’t know what you’ve done to deserve it. You start to believe that you are the problem and that you need to change something about yourself to be liked, but I’ve come to learn that it’s really not our problem, it’s theirs.”