Help is a call away

Samantha Sewell knows all too well the sting of a bully's taunts.

Growing up with a speech impediment, Sewell was often the target of her classmates ridicule.

But she did not let the daily torment define her, and it certainly did not defeat her.

Sewell has gone on to win several pageants - she is currently Miss International Volunteer - she has spoken in front of thousands of people and is an outspoken anti-bullying advocate.

At one of her lowest points, Sewell was 'hiding' in a bathroom stall at her high school and eating a chocolate bar which had the kids' help line number on it.

“It really did help me. It had a really big impact,” said Sewell. “I want to have the kids help phone put in every school bathroom on the back of the stalls, so that way, at their lowest times when kids go to the washroom to cry or to be upset or to be alone, they can see the kids' help phone and know they can phone and they can get help.”

Sewell has even talked to the prime minister and his wife about the idea and hopes to arrange a meeting in the future to further discuss the proposal.

Sewell and her mother are also drafting a letter with Live Out Loud Charities to lobby for it to become a law or bylaw that the number must be displayed in school bathrooms.

She also plans to lobby other politicians to gain support for the initiative.