Meet Samaya Chauhan, Gen Z Star Who’s Fighting Bullying Across Schools In India

While kids her age have been influenced by pop culture, shopping, #YOLO travel and more, Samaya Chauhan was impacted by real-life stories of emotional pain, dealing with oppression and cries for help around her. At 16, this has become her forte, addressing the issues in a powerful way through her platform PLAN Y. Now a global movement, with over 350 active members spanning India and other countries, all aiming to destigmatise societal issues of mental health and bullying. 
Swapping the usual Gen Z café hangouts, the changemaker  spending time creating cocoons for the helpless, turning them into safe spaces for sharing experiences and resources with a strong message to victims of bullying—they’re not alone. That’s a lot to handle, but then she’s Samaya Chauhan, who won’t give up. Over to the feisty, determined girl who redefines courage in our chat...

Taking A Stand

ELLE: At just 16, you’re leading an anti-bullying global movement. If you had to describe that feeling, what would it be?

Samaya Chauhan (SC): I’m ecstatic, I guess! It’s deeply fulfilling, but at the same time, it comes with an awareness that there’s still so much more to be done. I’m proud of how far we’ve come, but there’s an urgency that keeps me grounded. It feels less like a celebration and more like a commitment—a promise to keep going until real change is felt widely.

It was all around me—friends, classmates, even people very close to me who were quietly carrying the emotional weight of being bullied. It felt like another silent epidemic, and what struck me was how invisible their pain often was.

ELLE: Did you personally experience or witness bullying that sparked your passion?

SC:  It was all around me—friends, classmates, even people very close to me who were quietly carrying the emotional weight of being bullied. It felt like another silent epidemic, and what struck me was how invisible their pain often was. Some stories stayed with me long after I heard them—stories of kids dreading school, of students losing their spark, and of families feeling helpless. That helplessness turned into action. I realised that while not everyone could speak up, I could try. And that trying could grow into something larger..

ELLE: How did PLAN Y start. How did this evolve from an idea to an international youth movement?

SC: PLAN Y stands for Policy and Leadership Action Network for Youth. It began with very small but intentional steps. Conversations turned into brainstorming, which turned into interventions. I noticed how people of all ages, especially children, often couldn’t articulate what they were going through. We began with a peer-led initiative called Bullying: Full Stop, which used unique tools like The Anatomy of a Bully, Letter to My Bully, and The Bullying Thermometer to help children engage with difficult experiences in a safe, creative way. For example, The Bullying Thermometer allowed children as young as five to map situations onto an illustrated thermometer to understand whether what they were facing was bullying. These early activities led to surveys, student counselling, and deeper research into why bullying happens. We then formed Peer Bully Police Squads in schools to raise awareness and intervene at a peer level. This spread into blind schools, elderly care homes, and workplaces. Eventually, we discovered major policy gaps in India’s cyberbullying laws and an urgent need for digital safety education. 

That led us to evolve PLAN Y into a larger platform focused on mental health, cyber safety, and youth policy advocacy. We conducted webinars with cyber safety experts like Rakshit Tandon that reached over 10,000 people, and our Change.org petition calling for cyberbullying to be addressed nationally gained 40,000+ signatures. PLAN Y is now helping shape a cyber safety and digital rights curriculum—specially curated and piloted across several schools—to help students navigate online spaces safely and responsibly. Today, PLAN Y spans across multiple countries and is setting up youth chapters in schools globally. What began as a reaction has now become a movement.

ELLE: With over 350 active members across countries, how do you build community and ensure impact on such a large scale?

SC: We work through a tiered leadership model. Each school has team leads who coordinate with a cluster in-charge responsible for a group of schools. These in-charges communicate directly with the core PLAN Y team. We regularly conduct training and feedback sessions to equip our team leads, while also listening to voices from every level. That constant feedback loop—combined with autonomy at the grassroots level—helps us stay both connected and impactful. 

ELLE: How do you identify and train youth leaders within PLAN Y to become advocates for change?

SC: Most of our leaders are people who stepped up because they wanted to. When they approach us, we have detailed conversations to understand their motivations and ability to lead with empathy. Our training involves peer coaching, value alignment, and project-based action. We help each individual play to their strengths. If someone is good at research, they focus on policy; if someone else connects deeply with people, they lead peer support or school chapters. Weaknesses are viewed not as limitations but as invitations for collaboration.

ELLE: Your ‘Anti-Bullying Police’ initiative has already reached 500 schools—how does it work, and what has the response been like?

SC: We begin with orientation sessions in schools where students learn about bullying, bystander support, and intervention. Those who wish to join the initiative are screened by class teachers for qualities like empathy, responsibility, and sensitivity. The chosen ambassadors attend workshops where they ideate ways to detect bullying, support victims, and create safe spaces for students to report abuse—often anonymously. Sessions are peer-led and later guided by school counsellors. Every core PLAN Y member is assigned a group of schools to ensure ongoing mentorship and accountability. The response has been incredibly encouraging. We’ve had students share how they finally felt seen, or how they helped a classmate find their voice. Those moments are what we work for.

ELLE: What challenges do you face when trying to address bullying and mental health in schools? Do you also find a gender ratio slant in this?

SC: Stigma is still a big hurdle—both in talking about mental health and acknowledging bullying. Many schools are afraid that acknowledging the issue will affect their reputation. There’s also hesitation among students to be labelled as “weak” for seeking help. Another major challenge is lack of formal training among teachers and counsellors on how to respond. Also, students from different socio-economic backgrounds face bullying in very different ways—sometimes due to language, caste, gender, or neurodivergence. We’re trying to address all of these through contextual training. As for gender, while boys are more likely to be physically bullied, girls report higher levels of emotional bullying and cyber abuse. But the lines blur across identities, and the solution has to be universal: empathy, education, and accountability.

ELLE: Can you share a few specific anecdotes from your interactions with those you help, that have deeply moved or changed you?

SC: There was a student who’d stopped going to school because of relentless teasing about his speech. When his school adopted the PLAN Y model, he joined one of our peer-led art therapy sessions. A few months later, he came up to me after an event and said, “For the first time, I don’t feel invisible.”
Another moment that stays with me was a young girl from a low-income school who wrote in her Letter to My Bully: “You made me feel like I didn’t belong, but now I know I do. I belong to myself.” Moments like those make me realise this is bigger than me. It’s about all of us, reclaiming our voices.

ELLE: Can you tell us more about your Art Therapy workshops? What kind of transformation have you seen in students through creative expression?

SC: We’ve found art to be one of the most powerful ways to heal. Whether it’s through doodling, painting, graffiti, or even fabric art—students begin to process emotions they often can’t verbalise. There’s no judgment in art. That’s what makes it magical. We’ve seen children express deep fears and hopes through colours and strokes. Our art walls on campuses and our Paint Your Pain campaign in Delhi malls not only gave students an outlet—but also started public conversations. Art therapy has become a quiet revolution within PLAN Y, and we’re working on formalising it as a regular module in our school programs.

You have to trust your worth, even when it feels buried under noise. You are not broken. You are not weak. You are becoming. And you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out. Stand tall. Your story is valid, your voice matters, and your courage—just by surviving—is already enough.

ELLE: What message would you give to young people who feel isolated or powerless due to bullying or mental health struggles?

SC: I think it would be something that deeply resonated with me during one of our sessions. A speaker Dr. Kshitija Wason, Head of Psychology Professor from Delhi University said, “The first line of defense is the armour that you wear against bullying—yourself”. I think it beautifully expresses that your strength comes from within. You have to believe in yourself and try not to get fazed by the words of others. You may have your own beliefs, your own way of walking, talking, dancing, or running, but that doesn’t make you any less than anyone else. If anything, it makes you ‘younique’, and that’s your superpower. You contribute to the world in a way that no one else can. Be proud of it and try not to get bogged down by what others think or say. You have to trust your worth, even when it feels buried under noise. You are not broken. You are not weak. You are becoming. And you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out. Stand tall. Your story is valid, your voice matters, and your courage—just by surviving—is already enough.

ELLE: Name a person or a book that has deeply influenced you?

SC: One person who has profoundly influenced me is Malala Yousafzai. Her story isn’t just one of courage—it’s a testament to the mental strength it takes to survive trauma and still choose compassion, advocacy, and hope. She stood up to oppression with unimaginable grace, and despite facing violence, continued to speak—not just for herself, but for millions of girls silenced around the world. That kind of inner clarity, even at a young age, inspires me every day to lead not with anger, but with conviction. As for a book—The Diary of Anne Frank changed how I saw resilience. Even in the darkest of places, Anne held on to her voice, her hope, and her humanity. That kind of strength is what I aspire to have.

ELLE: As a youngster with so many others your age doing things like travelling, shopping, chilling out with friends, does it feel you miss out on that with a major chunk of your time between your work and vocation? Or do you also make time for things you love?

SC: I do sometimes feel like I live on a different clock than most people my age. But I’ve found my joy in this work. That said, I dance. I sing badly. I watch documentaries. And I do cherish those late-night calls with my closest friends. Balance doesn’t always come easy, but I’ve learned that joy isn’t just in rest—it’s in purpose.

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