Star Trek Actor's Advice To Girl Bullied For Being A 'Nerd' Goes Viral

Star Trek Actor's Advice To Girl Bullied For Being A 'Nerd' Goes Viral

A little girl asked Star Trek actor Wil Wheaton how to handle being bullied and called a nerd, and his heartfelt response was so inspiring that it has now been viewed on YouTube more than a million times.

"When a person makes fun of you, when a person is cruel to you, it has nothing to do with you," Wil said at a convention for comic fans in Denver, America, last June.

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"It's not about what you said. It's not about what you did. It's not about what you love. It's about them feeling bad about themselves. They feel sad."

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Wil also revealed that he too had been bullied when he was a child,

"When I was a little boy I was called a nerd all the time - because I didn't like sports, I loved to read, I liked math and science, I thought school was really cool - and it hurt a lot.

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Because it's never OK when a person makes fun of you for something you didn't choose.

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"You know, we don't choose to be nerds. We can't help it that we like these things - and we shouldn't apologise for liking these things."

Wil's speech not only hit a chord with the Comic Con audience, who responded with riotous applause, it has also become a viral success. A video of the speech posted on YouTube has now been watched a staggering 1.2 million times.

Following the amazing response to the video, the mother and father of the girl who posed the question have posted an update about their daughter's situation on Reddit.

Happily, not only is Mia no longer being bullied, but Wil's speech inspired her to stand up for other children in her school who are bullied.

"Wil Wheaton," Mia's father wrote. "You are an honorary member of this family and I hope you know that you have made a real impact on Mia and the rest of us silly nerds."

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