Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton said she used to stay silent when bullies targeted her, but the birth of her first child forced her to take a different approach.
“I don’t want my children to see me ignoring it,” Clinton said Tuesday. “I want them to see me engaging with radical kindness and empathy.”
In an interview on “The Tonight Show,” Clinton, 38, said she spent a lot of time trying to ignore bullies during her father’s time in the White House.
It’s nearly impossible for her to use that approach now, she said, noting the rapid rise of social media and online bullying.
“I used to ignore the trolls. I used to kind of follow the ‘don’t give them oxygen, don’t feed them approach,’” Clinton said, “but I think that could have been interpreted as being kind of complicit in that ugliness.”
Clinton, now a mother of two, said she stands up for herself when necessary and advises others to do the same.
“I can’t respond to all of it because that would consume every minute of every day — and maybe part of my soul,” she said. “But I do think it’s important to respond to some of it and to show that this is not OK.”
Clinton stopped by the show to discuss her new children’s book, “Start Now! You Can Make a Difference,” which features stories and tips on how young people can change the world.
“I had to kind of tell stories about 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds who are making a difference,” she said. “It tackles some of the questions that I was concerned about at that age.”
