A St. Thomas teenager is sharing her story of torment through words and music in an anti-bullying video that is on its way to going viral.

Jessica Alex's video 'Do you know what bullying is?' is about pain and suffering, but it's also about inspiration and empowerment.

"I decided I needed to get something down on paper, you know no one's heard my story so I just got it out."

The 17-year-old Grade 12 student from St. Joseph's Catholic High School won a poetry contest last spring and the aspiring singer-songwriter turned it into a thought-provoking and emotional video

"The purpose of this video to me, is to show those who are being bullied right now that there is a way out," she says.

Matt Sobhy produced the video and says reaction has been great, "A lot of people are recognizing how important it is, and how much it is affecting them and how they can actually learn from the video."

Jessica became a victim of bullying in Grade 3, and says it involved physical, verbal and mental abuse.

But by the time she was in Grade 8, she herself became the aggressor.

"I was picking on other people, maybe I thought it was going to make me feel better."

Her mother Becky Ford was there for the whole journey.

"I felt it, I'm sure many parents do, that when you send your kids off to school and they come home crying and you can't physically actually be there to help them through the circumstance it's very, very rough."

Now, she says, she's incredibly proud of what her daughter has accomplished, "She's an incredible young lady."

Jessica hopes that more people will see the video and know "They're not alone and that someone else has gone through what they've gone through, and they have gotten through it."