Jaylen Arnold

AN ADVOCATE AGAINST BULLYING

In 2017, Jaylen Arnold was the recipient of The Princess Diana Legacy Award.

Established in honor of Diana, Princess of Wales, the award is given to young people who have developed programs and initiatives to inspire change around the world. The glass award, shaped as a square, has an image of Diana and her words that read, “Young People Have the Power to Change the World.”

“Receiving the Princess Diana Legacy Award as the only American recipient was not only surreal, but it was pretty intimidating,” said Jaylen. “I was extremely honored that they even recognized a simple highschooler like me, especially out of the thousands of applicants. I felt the expectation to continue to do the absolute best that I can with this foundation by using the platform the award gave me in order to reach as many students as possible.”

An anti-bullying activist and founder of Jaylens Challenge Foundation, Inc., Jaylen

Left to right: Prince Harry, Jaylen and Prince William

was anonymously nominated for the award in 2017 while he was still in high school. To receive the honor, he traveled to England and met with Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

“Meeting the princes was one of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had, but what surprised me was how genuine they both were and the amount of time they spent with each of us,” said Jaylen. “Princes William and Harry were both very interested in my cause and how to use tools like social media to spread positivity and mental health. What was interesting is that Prince Harry was actually against the use of social media until I told him about the different types of methods in how we can use outlets like Instagram and Twitter to counteract cyberbullying,” he added.

At a young age, Jaylen was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. When he was eight years old, Jaylen was bullied at school. Determined to educate people about respect and the effects of bullying, he founded Jaylens Challenge with a goal to spread his message nationwide.

Soon enough, his story was featured on “The Ellen Show,” CNN and by Katie Couric. He also garnered the attention of actor Dash Mihok of Showtime’s “Ray Donovan,” who struggled with Tourette’s at a young age as well.

Jaylens Challenge Foundation, Inc., is a non-profit, charitable organization that is dedicated to promoting awareness and the prevention of bullying through education and community service. To promote awareness, the organization holds schoolwide, face-to-face assemblies for students to understand why bullying is a problem. They highlight how students can prevent as well as help people who are bullied. Jaylen then shares his personal experience of being bullied.

The organization also distributes curriculum which has received the National Parenting Seal of Approval and the iconic “Bullying No Way!” wristbands that Jaylen created. To date, Jaylen has spoken to more than 240,000 students across the nation and helped prevent 67 suicides. He has traveled to 31 states to advocate for his cause. Jaylen was recently recognized by “Reader’s Digest” as one of the “14 Incredible Kids Who Changed the World in the Last Decade.”

Now a sophomore at Southeastern, Jaylen is enrolled as a film production major, with aspirations of one day working in Hollywood.

“One of the things I enjoy the most about SEU is the community. During my first semester I never once felt too embarrassed to approach someone. So many people I have met here, regardless if they are students or staff, have shown they care about me as an individual and have been there to be a support system when I need them,” said Jaylen.

Although he is enrolled as a full-time student, Jaylen continues to advocate against bullying and makes his cause a priority. While in school, he travels with the foundation once a month, and during holidays.