Getting tough on bullying

By Gracie Hart
Review Staff Writer

Published: October 23, 2008

“Treat everyone as a friend, bullying needs to end.“  This chant vibrated off the gym walls at Gordon-Barbour Elementary School Oct. 16 as students, faculty, staff and guests kicked off a bullying prevention program. 
The program, based on the Olweus Bullying Prevention program, aims to reduce existing bullying problems among students, to prevent the development of new bullying problems and to achieve better peer relationships at school.  Bullying has been a focus for schools after connections were seen between school violence and bullying, especially in the cases of fatal shooting at Columbine and Virginia Tech.
According to the Olweus program, children who bully are more likely to get into frequent fights, be injured in a fight, steal or vandalize property, drink alcohol, smoke, be truant or drop out of school.  They are also more likely to report poorer academic achievement, perceive a negative climate at school or carry a weapon.
“Bullying can lead to major problems,“ said Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Garcia Madison, one of the three guest speakers, and former Gordon-Barbour students, who told personal accounts of their childhood encounters with bullying.  “You never want to solve a problem with bullying or violence.“
According to Madison, he wasn’t bullied so much at school as he was at the local resource center where he wasn’t always chosen to be on a pick-up basketball team.  He also suffered from a stuttering problem.
“Words do hurt,“ he said.  “But because I had good people in my life, I was encouraged to not retaliate.“
Madison encouraged students to say something to help someone and to love them. 
Orange County School Board member and former baseball player, Chris Haney also spoke at the kick-off.  He recounted how he was picked on for being a smaller kid and how one particular bully used to break his pencils all the time.
“[Bullying] is not a lot of fun,“ Haney said.  “[We] didn’t have a program like this.  I think good things happen now.“
According to Haney, the bullying prevention program allows students to feel safe and comfortable at school.  He had two pieces of advice for students: “you’re judged by the company you keep” and “treat other people like you want to be treated.“
Locust Grove Middle School Assistant Principal Katrina Brown Richardson also said she was bullied as a student at Gordon-Barbour.
“In fourth grade, there was no bus for my neighborhood so I walked to school with my cousin,“ Richardson said.  “Three girls, who were in fifth grade, didn’t like me and [one day] they followed my cousin and me home.  They pushed me into a ditch and laughed and ran.“
Richardson credits having great parents and teachers to feeling safe at school. 
“They were on top of it,“ she said.
Richardson said she later taught one of the girls’ daughters at Orange County High School and the woman apologized to her.
“This program is a great opportunity to have people in this building who care and support about you,“ Richardson told students. 
According to the Virginia School Board Association, caring and supporting students through the program is important as nearly 30 percent of the youth in the United States may be involved in bullying each year, either as the bully or as a victim.  Also, an estimated 160,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade miss school every day due to a fear of being bullied.
In addition to the guest speakers, fourth and fifth grade students put on skits which featured students bullying and not knowing it.  The skits included not allowing a student to sit with them, rolling their eyes at a student and laughing at a girl who couldn’t spell.  The second and third grade chorus opened the program with, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.“ 
Music also concluded the program with the audience singing “I Don’t Want to Bully,“ penned by music teacher Mary Anderson and the bulldog mascot dancing to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.“
The kickoff program was repeated at 7 p.m. for parents and other guests.