In between balancing school, homework and filming, eight-year-old Janiya Williams finds time to encourage, inspire and motivate other children to “Watch Ur Words,” on social media platforms.
This fall, Janiya is scheduled to play the role of “Carrie” in a new web series called, “Patricia’s Independence,” a film about a top lobbyist, wife, and a mother of two who lives a lavish lifestyle and maintains an independent attitude.
Janiya’s mother says her daughter loves to act and she relishes the opportunity to “instill positive vibes” in others while inspiring young people to become great role models.
“Janiya’s very passionate with encouraging kids to ‘Watch their Words,’ so she thought of launching the ‘Watch Ur Words’ – or WUW – campaign,” said Janiya’s mom, Brittany. “She believes this practice will not only benefit the young but the old too.”
“I am so proud of my daughter and how she is taking a stand against bullies,” said Brittany, who chooses to go simply by her first name. “Janiya has come home on many occasions with sad stories about how kids in her class were pushed around and laughed at and it always bothered her.
“She came up with watch your words to teach kids how to always be mindful of what you say and how you say it. Bullying has taken lives of many of our kids in America and I’m so proud that my daughter at her age is trying to make a change.”
Coming up with the WUW campaign was quite simple for the eight-year-old.
“I kept hearing kids in school say mean, hurtful and disrespectful things to other kids and then I started hearing on the news how some kids committed suicide,” Janiya said. “I thought that was awful and sad. So, I started thinking if everyone watches what they say to each other, then the world would be a better place so I came up with ‘Watch UR Words.’”
While her schedule and certainly her ideas might seem a bit much for someone so young, Janiya keeps an agenda that helps her stay on track.
“I write down the things that I need and want to do the night before. I start my day off with positive thoughts. Then when unexpected things come up, I fit them into my activities, and sometimes shift things around,” she said.
Janiya says she dreams of being both a gymnast and an actress because she “loves flipping all day long and I love playing different characters.”
Above all, however, is Janiya’s advice to all young people— “Watch Ur Words.”
“It’s important that everyone watch their words because nowadays kids are saying so many mean things to other kids that some kids don’t want to come school. They are fearful of bullies, some kids cry when kids say mean things and some kids are even committing suicide,” Janiya said. “If everyone takes a second to think about how [badly] negative words really hurt people, then we would live in a happier place because we’re using positive words, and saying nice things to people.”