Miss N.C. gives anti-bullying advice at Boys and Girls Club

More than 20 children ages 4 and older gathered around Miss North Carolina, greeting her with hugs and smiles as she entered the gym of the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club on Reynolds Park Road. She sparkled in her crown, gold glittered heels and a grey and white sash that read the obvious Miss North Carolina.

Ashley Love-Mills, 24, from Raleigh was crowned Miss North Carolina USA 2013 after four years of not giving up on her dream. Mills said she is the 5th African American woman to win the title of Miss North Carolina USA since the pageant's inception in 1952. With North Carolina being a red-line state you have to be twice as good to be an African American contestant to win said Mills.

Love-Mills started at 17 years old doing teen pageants and came in the top 10 on her first try. Mills said she knew that she wanted to be an actress as young as 3 years old and you can expect to see her in two up and coming films within the next two years that can not be revealed at the time. Mills earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from North Carolina State University in Media Communications.

With all her success, Mills gives back to the community and she is most passionate about being a spokesperson for anti-bullying.

Love-Mills spoke about her challenges in high school and being bullied and was brought to tears when she reminisced on her experience and why she gives back, "I do it because someone did it for me first, and it inspired me to want to be different she said."

Mills told those experiencing bullying to hold on to their strength, love and believe in themselves and know that this too shall pass. They should ask themselves what have the experience given them to improve life. So why, she asks, should they matter?

There are several different types of bullying; indirect, physical and verbal according to Ark of Hope for Children. Some 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month. Fifty-six percent of students have witnessed bullying at their school and seventy-one percent of students report incidents of bullying at their school. The children had many questions to ask Mills and were honest about either participating in bullying or being bullied. Many of the children raised their hands high in the air after being asked had they experienced bullying and vowed not to be bullies any longer.

District Attorney Jennifer Martin attended the event and spoke about her job in detail and why the children should behave well. Martin interacted with the children by asking them questions about her job and having them to respond.

Other professionals attended the event, including Winston-Salem attorney Carl Parrish. Parrish who spoke also informed the students about being well-behaved and hanging around the right group of people. Coordinator of the event Kanika Brown said she invites Parrish to come participate with the children and do things with them when they make honor role.

Pastor Gloria Samuels of Great Commission Community church said, "There is such a vast group of people who can touch people and, when you limit them to one vector that's speaking to them, I believe you cripple them."