Students from the Millbrook FCCLA Chapter have started a new project for their Star Event to stop the spread of bullying at our school. The people behind this project are Lizzy Cable, Ndeye Deing, and Ursula Furnas. The trio has been going into Physical Education / Health classes to show the students their presentation on anti-bullying. The group’s motto is “Stand UP, Speak OUT, Stop Bullying!”
The presentation included informational statistics about bullying including how bullying can cause an increase in suicidal thoughts. The group defines bullying as “intentional, repeated aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance of power.” There are four types of bullying that they mention: physical, verbal, social, and cyber. All four of these are very prevalent in America and possibly going unknown in our school.
They then discussed why people bully. These range from insecurity to power or control, to trauma from home. While bullying is not okay, it’s important to understand why people feel the need to do it. The group believes there are three steps to overcome bullying in a school. Step one: Stand Up! The trio asks listeners to take action if they witness any kind of bullying. Step two: Speak Out! Understand that your voice can make a difference and you should report to a trusted adult. Step three: Stop Bullying!
The group shared a real-life story about a girl who was bullied and now tries to empower and strengthen others to overcome bullying. They then asked the students to raise their hands if they had been bullied. In the presentation I was lucky enough to attend one student shared with the classes her story of dealing with bullying in middle school. Presenter and junior, Ursula Furnas said, “I believe that working to stop bullying is so important. I’m glad we did this project not just for our Star Event but to spread awareness.”
At the end of the presentation, the group asked the students and teachers watching to sign their pledge posters to end bullying. Throughout all the presentations the poster filled up fast and now a good portion of our school has signed a pledge to help end bullying. Presenter and junior, Ndeye Deing said, “This project was very important for me because I think that it’s so important that people are educated on what bullying is, how we can prevent it, and that there’s a lack of action being taken towards it. Bullying has become such a household term, and I think it’s so important to give that term its definition back and understand how severe it is.”
This group has given such good awareness of the terrible action that is bullying. They will be using their project to compete at the state level in FCCLA in April, and we know the Millbrook community will be proud of them no matter what.
