Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 10-23-15 Edition

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015
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October Is National Bullying Awareness Month:
Tampa Chapter Of The Links, Inc. Takes Message To Girl Groups They Mentor
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Selena Tyson, 11, has never experienced bullying or been a bully herself.
Still, Selena joined 27 other students on Friday af- ternoon at Sheehy Elemen- tary School in taking an anti-bullying pledge after lis- tening to a presentation about bullying and cyberbullying given by School Resource Of- ficer, Tampa police officer, T. Burrows.
Selena, a fifth-grader, said she learned much from Offi- cer Burrows, including how a bully’s behavior can damage another person’s self-esteem and confidence.
“Bullies should know that the hurt and harm they exert on someone else can come back to them”, she said.
“It was important to take the pledge because if you don’t want someone to bully you,” Selena said.
Community police officers, Jarda Bradford and Kinette Scallo echoed the message to the 8th grade girls at Van Buren. The Radiant Jewels were all very quiet while watching a slideshow about local students that committed suicide due to bul- lying.
One Radiant Jewel said the slideshow made her cry.
October is National Bully- ing Awareness Month and the Tampa Chapter of The Links, Inc. used the theme as its monthly session with the girl groups they mentor at
Sheehy and Van Buren Mid- dle School. The Chapter Members wanted to make sure to inform and alert members of its Royal Jewels at Sheehy and Radiant Jewels at Van Buren about various forms of bullying and how to prevent it.
According to stopbully- ing.gov, about 30 percent of students have admitted to bullying others. And 15 per- cent of high school students in grades 9 through 12 were victims of cyberbullying in the past year.
The statistics for students who have witnessed bullying are even more alarming: a whopping 70 percent of young people have seen an- other student bullied in their schools. Sixty-two percent witnessed bullying two or more times in the last month and 41percent witness bully- ing once a week or more.
The results of bully behav- ior – low self-esteem, lack of
confidence , and even suicide – make it crucial that stu- dents are aware of bullying in all of its forms and learn what they should do if ever con- fronted by a bully, said Link Margarette Spears, chair of the Services to Youth facet of the Tampa Chapter.
“The cyberbulling itself is a new avenue that all of us need to be educated on,” she said. “Sometimes, they don’t realize its bullying. They think, ‘oh, it’s a way for me to become part of the in- crowd.’”
During the presentations, Officers Burrows and Bradford cautioned stu- dents about the repercussions of participating in bullying behavior.
Being a bully can result in being expelled from school, or worse, being arrested, they said.
“We take it very seriously when we have a bullying of- fense.”
“People who are bullies have something going on with themselves that they are try- ing to deflect from,” she said. “They don’t want that atten- tion brought on themselves.”
And while larger children are often the bullies of some- one smaller than themselves, smaller children often engage in cyberbullying.
People who cyber bully think that they can’t be caught because they aren’t physically in the victim’s presence. But messages posted on popular outlets like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat can be traced back to your computer, tablet, or mobile device, Officer Bur- rows said. “Once you put it out there (on social media), it’s out there,” she said. “It never goes away.”
Officers Burrows and Bradford urged the Jewels to contact an adult if they are the victim of a bully or see someone else being bullied.
Keeping silent could result in someone harming themselves or harming another person.
It took a minute for the older girls to talk about what they experienced. However, when speaking to them pri- vately, some revealed they had been bullied....which re- sulted in a fight.
All of the girls felt they had a better understanding about bullying after the female offi- cers spoke to them.
Tips to Stop Bullying
Below are things you can do to keep yourself and the kids you know safe from bul- lying:
• Treat everyone with respect. • Stop and think before you say or do something that could hurt someone.
• If you are being bullied, look at the kid bullying you and tell him or her to stop in a calm, clear voice.
• If speaking up seems too hard or not safe, walk away and stay away. Don’t fight back. Find an adult to stop the bullying on the spot.
• When online, Always think about what you post. You never know what someone will forward. Being kind to others online will help to keep you safe. Do not share any- thing that could hurt or em- barrass anyone.
• Talk to an adult you trust about any messages you get or things you see online that make you sad or scared. If it is cyberbullying, report it. Source: stopbullying.gov.