It was two hours before the end of the day at Beechwood Independent School District in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, where students were asked to recall the origins of their names in preparation for the speech they would hear regarding inclusion and building relationships. It’s not a typical thought that most young students reflect upon towards the end of the day, yet it became so relevant to the topic of discussion-bullying.
As he engaged the enthusiastic students, speaker Shawn Jeffers, Director of Programs at BRIDGES for a Just Community, decided to share the origin of his name with the young crowd. “Nicholas… Demetrius… oh yes, S.h.a.w.n. is what we will name him,” Jeffers mentioned when sharing how his parents came up with the name he has today. Informing the crowd of how his parents met in Europe while his father was stationed in Germany, Jeffers discussed how he got the unique spelling of his name due to its relation to his relatives in the Netherlands.
Eager to connect the purposes of his story to the topic of bullying, Jeffers then discussed with the students that each of our names are unique and different, therefore we are unique and different from each other. In fact, our names may even be spelled differently from one another to define its uniqueness from other names. Yet, there are those who cruelly judge our names and go as far as to make fun of the way it looks and sounds, instead of getting to know the uniqueness behind our names, therefore getting to know us. Just because someone’s name is unlike yours, doesn’t mean you have to treat him or her any differently.
This same concept was shared with the kindergarten through third grade crowd, but it involved their favorite colors. Jeffers asked those students whose favorite color is blue “for people who don’t like the color blue, are they wrong?” The students quickly answered “No,” while embracing their understanding that we are all different and there’s nothing wrong with being different.
Being different or unlike someone else is the underlying cause of bullying, especially in elementary and junior high school. Therefore, in order to prevent or minimize bullying BRIDGES teaches children about acceptance and understanding of others’ differences. Using two of the character words “respect” and “honesty” that the children have learned over the last couple of weeks, the students of Beechwood were taught to respect those who are unlike each other and show honesty when reporting that someone is being bullied are only some of the effective ways in which bullying can be eliminated.
Keeping in mind the Platinum Rule-“Treat others the way THEY want to be treated,” is just one of the many key themes BRIDGES for a Just Community enjoys promoting through their “JUST Community,” “Village Schools,” and other issue and advocacy programs, Jeffers explained.
Since its beginning year in 1944, BRIDGES has been our region’s leading human relations organization and is a founding member of the National Federation for Just Communities, a coalition of like-minded organizations working together across America to bring the values of diversity, inclusion and social justice to our communities, schools, workplaces and institutions. BRIDGES aligns this idea of diversity, inclusion and social justice with the values Beechwood School has in guiding their students down a pathway of social excellence among other things.
Wanting to leave the students at Beechwood with a message about bullying and inclusion, Jeffers referred back to the name-game activity that helped the children build their understanding around the topic of bullying by stating;
“We have to honor our names by making a difference and getting to know others by their names… we have differences as much as we have similarities and we have to respect that! We may look different and have different experiences, but we can still have a conversation with others… get to know who they are and don’t just assume who they are because they are different.”
Other tactics Jeffers mentioned for ways to handle bullying include reporting any bullying activities to an adult like a teacher or a parent, standing up for a peer or friend who is being bullied and prevent becoming the bully or bully police by simply “asking the bully to stop verses angrily demanding him or her to stop.”
In a final effort to convince the students at Beechwood about the seriousness of bullying, Jeffers brought up the lives of Carl Walker Hoover, an 11 year old boy who hung himself after being bullied daily because his peers thought he was gay, and Ashlynn Conner, a 10 year old honor student who was alleged to have hung herself after being taunted by the girls at her school. These young innocent children are only few of many who have felt that no one stood up for them when they were being bullied. Sadly, there are more cases like this each day and the toll of deaths as a result of bullying continue to rise. Learn to stop the bullying before the bullying stops you!
Author: Alexis Williams
Communications Intern
Source List:
www.beechwood.k12.ky.us
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20111028/NEWS0102/110290323/School-district-fights-bullying?odyssey=nav%7Chead
www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/2400.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-funeral-today-for-girl-10-whose-family-says-killed-herself-because-of-bullying-20111116,0,3663336.story
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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