Peers lead No Place for Hate forum on bullying

There is a thin line between words and wounds.

That was one of the messages to ninth-grade students at Pine Bush High School during the DASA (Dignity for All Students Act) forum, given by the Teen Outreach club. It is part of the school’s No Place for Hate program. The topic was bullying. Student leaders defined it and gave suggestions and solutions to their younger counterparts. The message was one of kindness, understanding and standing up for yourself and others.

The setting is a library. There is a screen at the front of the room with a list of three types of bullying - Physical, verbal and social/relational. There are a handful of high school students on the side looking at the screen.

The facilitators presented questions and scenarios to the students dealing with their experiences in school:

Is bullying only a problem in elementary and middle school or does it continue in high school?
Is it the school’s business if students bully or harass off school grounds?
Have they been disinvited to an activity because of bullying?
Have they been asked out by someone as a joke?
Have they been unfriended on social media?
Have they been made fun of in school?
Have they been called a name or a racial slur?
Have there been rumors circulating about them?
Have they been threatened or hit?

There were many more questions that dove into the young students’ experiences, part of this “Cross the Line” exercise. Students, who were standing during part of the questioning, would take a step forward for each situation they have experienced. There was an imaginary line in the middle of the room. Most everyone crossed the line at some point. The leaders and students discussed the behaviors mentioned, including how to handle certain situations.

A large group of ninth-grade students is in a section of a library, all looking toward a screen at the front of the room.

The students leading the forum even showed scenes from popular movies and shows, such as Mean Girls and Sponge Bob, as examples of bullying and coercion.

Some messages taken from this forum:

Be an upstander, not a bystander – if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.
Cyberbullying is hurtful and destructive
Bullying can be physical, verbal and social/relational.
There are adults who will help – seek them out.

Two high school students leading a forum. One on the right, with long blonde hair, holds a piece of paper she is showing to a group. The young woman on the left, who has long dark braids, is reading from a paper.

The forum was similar in approach to the one moderated by the Youth Empowerment and Sustainability Skills (YESS) class in December that dealt with relationships.

Dave Hurst, Mindy Brock and Moises Colon are the advisors to the Teenage Outreach Club and coordinated this forum.

#ThinkBeforeYouPost #SeeSomethingSaySomething

A group of 16 high school students standing on steps.

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