Cyber bullying is hurtful to youngsters: Ananya

Actress Ananya Panday, who has started an online campaign called 'So Positive', to confront cyber bullying, says trolling and such acts leave an impact on the mind of youngsters who are in a transformative age.

Last month, the 'Student of the Year 2' actress was questioned on her academic qualification on social media when she said in an interview that she took admission in USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Later, Ananya posted pictures of college documents on Instagram.

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I didn't want to do this. I didn't feel like I needed to explain myself to anyone, but the rumours that I faked my admission at USC have been doing the rounds for a while now. They've been getting out of hand, and it's even more unfair and sad that my family and friends have to go through this. As I've stated earlier, I was accepted by Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC for a major in Communication in the Spring 2018 semester. But since I was shooting for my first film and the release date later got pushed, I had to request for a deferral (which means postponing my admission) twice - first to Fall 2018 and later to Fall 2019, both of which they gracefully agreed to do. In my case, I could only defer my admission two times so I will not be attending university (for now), since I've decided to pursue my career in acting. As for the people who have been trying to pull me down with these accusations, I would like to send you all lots of love, peace and positivity. And would also like to say that even though they're claiming to be my classmates (nameless and faceless) - I'm sure they aren't because I've grown up with the people I went to school with and they would never do something like that. It's never okay to bully anyone - creating fake conversations, stories and screenshots is very dangerous and can seriously damage people's lives. So please be loving, positive and kind. ❤ (PS - my father's real name is Suyash and I blurred out my address for security reasons)

A post shared by Ananya 👩🏻‍🎓💫 (@ananyapanday) on Jun 8, 2019 at 2:36am PDT

Talking about the incident, Ananya told IANS here: "While it is true that those trolls do not deserve our attention when that incident happened to me, it was not only affecting me but my family, my parents.

"They know that their daughter worked hard to get admission in a college. So when I put out the pictures I did it for our satisfaction. Cyberbullying is a common practice and it really affects all of us."

"The reason why I am taking a stand is (because) people should have an understanding of how it affects others and why it is important to be responsible to comment on anything."

Though she believes that the growing negativity and bullying on social media affects any individual, reasoning why the youngsters get more affected, Ananya said: "When we are teenagers, we are developing a perception of ourselves based on what people say about us.

We are yet to develop a full-grown adult brain. Therefore, when we are bullied all the time, it makes us vulnerable.

"Our body and mind go through a transformation and if someone is body shaming, it hurts, it does..." After the release of her first film this year, she said that she received various comments and opinions on her work in the movie.

"I think constructive criticism is positive for us to improve ourselves and it is easy to understand. In my review, many people said that I have to work on my dance skills and comic timing.

I understand that, of course, there is room for improvement. I appreciate such comments," she mentioned. However, she shared: "When someone said that my body looks like a 14-year-old boy's... how could that be criticism?

That is bullying... You see, that is easy to differentiate from a critic's words. People said much more hurtful things and they are bullies, they are not critics."

Validation from social media users seems to have become an integral part of stardom.

Asked if seeking approval online changes their mind to take any decision, the daughter of actor Chunky Pandey said: "My father said this and I agree with him, we shouldn't be taking people's comments so seriously because they change every now and then."

"I am developing a thick skin where I send back love and positivity to all the haters because that is what they need.

Probably they are seeking a reaction from us, and there is a void of love they have in their lives," added the 20-year-old.

Making her debut with actress Tara Sutaria, Ananya said that she loves the healthy competition and such things keep her motivated to do more good work.