Bullying: A Critical Issue in Today's Society that 'Breaking Bad's' RJ Mitte Speaks Out About

As a critical and urgent matter in today's society, bullying affects millions of U.S. families a year — an estimated 160,000 kids stay home each year from fear of being bullied, according to new bullying statistics released in 2010. And with the Internet, bullying has become an even larger issue with cyberbullying. There are about 2.7 million students being bullied each year.

The reasons for a bully to pick on another varies, but for RJ Mitte, of the hit AMC series Breaking Bad, it was because of his disability. Mitt has cerbal palsy, but he always believed in himself, and because of that didn't let the jeers, comments and actions of other mean kids bother him.

“I just brushed it off my shoulders and kept going,” says Mitte “That’s what you have to do. Kids are mean in their own way.”

Now the actor, who plays a character on Breaking Bad with the same disability, often speaks out against bullying, encouraging others to believe in themselves and develop the same brush-off-the-shoulder attitude. It is not an easy task when someone is lashing out against you and others are laughing at your expense. However, according to Mitte, the best thing to do is to get an adult involved.

“A lot of kids don’t want to get parents involved because they think they can solve it themselves or want to be perfect,” says Mitte. “But, get parents immediately involved because otherwise it just escalates. There are so many kids that are losing their lives over bullying and it is just sad to see that.”

Everyone is different and it shouldn’t matter whether you have a disability like cerebal palsy, you talk funny or you wear different clothes. Believing in your own differences can help others believe and accept them as well.

“No one has the same [personality and apperance] and everyone has their own opinion,” continues Mitte. “You have to respect that opinion.”

And when a bully picks on you, the best thing you can do, according to Mitt is "Stand up and let people hear your voice,” and also get an adult involved. The same goes for if you see someone else being bullied.

“You want to get that adult involved because as a kid it is going to turn over to you,” says Mitte. “Once it starts it is like a snowball effect.”

This is one snowball you wouldn’t want to roll over you too, so help another out by grabbing an adult who can really help (and gain a friend in the process).

As Mitte says “What you give out in the world comes back at you in ten-fold.”