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A group of Graham High School students are taking a stand against bullying and encouraging others to live by the Golden Rule.
With bullying an increasing problem in schools nationwide, four Graham High students formed “Stay Golden,” a group encouraging other students to “do unto others as you would have done to you.”
Juniors Sarah Brady, Ashley Cruise and Cody Hatfield along with freshman Nicole Gabe have been selling T-shirts and bracelets with an anti-bullying message as a way to remind their fellow classmates that words have power and encourage them to speak up if they see bullying or are being bullied.
“We are aiming to make a difference,” Brady said. “I feel like no one realizes bullying happens to someone they know until they lose someone. Nothing has happened at Graham yet, and we are very lucky because of that. We want to be proactive with this problem. I would encourage kids at all schools to make a difference. Someone has to set the trend and we want to be those people.”
Cruise said the group hopes they can help other students realize they are not alone and have people to turn to if they are being bullied.
“It may not seem like it makes much of a difference, but we are hoping to just change one person’s life,” Cruise said. “We want people to know there is someone out there who does care. Most kids think their home is their escape, but we feel you should feel safe at school, to have fun with your friends, and be treated the way you want to be treated. We want people to know there is someone out there who cares for you and wants to help you out.”
Gabe said bullying increasingly happens online, away from the gaze of parents, teachers and even fellow classmates.
“It happens to a lot of kid on the Internet and at school,” Gabe said. “We want to make a difference. If you say something to someone, they may smile on the outside, but you don’t know what they are really thinking or feeling. If you are on Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr, people can post embarrassing pictures of you online. You can delete things, but on the Internet it’s never really gone. It will always be there. It can be hard to deal with that kind of embarrassment.”
Cruise said the anonymity computers provide can make bullying worse.
“If someone has a computer to hide behind, they are more apt to say hurtful things than maybe they would be face to face,” Cruise said.
When boys are bullied, Hatfield said they aren’t as likely to come forward for fear of retribution or embarrassment.
“You don’t really notice bullying until it happens to someone you know,” Hatfield said. “It really opens up your eyes. There is a problem with bullying. Guys, if they get bullied, tend not to say anything. It’s embarrassing for a guy to tell someone that he’s being bullied. Guys are also afraid if they say something about it, they will be bullied even more. I know the signs include things like skipping school, not wanting to talk to your parents, and changes in eating habits. Now that I know that, I will always pay attention to things like that.”
Additionally, Gabe said kids are not always bullied by someone of the same gender.
“If someone is being bullied, it doesn’t have to be by someone of the same gender,” Gabe said. “It can be from a boyfriend or girlfriend. It can be someone of the opposite gender saying mean things about you.”
According to Brady, many kids are afraid to tell their parents they are being bullied because they don’t want to be a disappointment.
“We see it ourselves and experience it ourselves,” Brady said. “We can talk to our parents and get advice, but they aren’t seeing it every day and experiencing it every day. Everyone is different at school than they are at home. If you are being bullied, you definitely need to tell someone. It doesn’t have to be a parent. It can be a friend or someone at school. Just tell someone so they know it is going on. It is so important to let people know. It can be hard for kids to talk to their parents about bullying. There is already so much pressure to make good grades, get into a good college, and perform well in athletics. You don’t want to disappoint your parents.”
Brady said students need to learn to think before they speak.
“Anyone can say a mean comment that makes you feel bad,” Brady said. “It doesn’t have to be someone who is mean to you. A friend could say ‘you look bad in that shirt’ and then you feel bad about it the rest of the day. People need to think before they speak. We really need to think about what we say before we speak.”
Hatfield said students need to be on the forefront of the anti-bullying movement because they are the ones most exposed to bullying.
“We see bullying every day,” Hatfield. “If a teacher doesn’t see it, the odds are a student will. No one should wait until it’s too late. We should try to help everyone.”
Brady said she and the other members of Be Golden want to make a change in their community and beyond.
Part of that change is selling T-shirts and bracelets as a reminder for people to follow the Golden Rule.
“I want to see more kindness,” Brady said. “We have a small school and a small community. We need people to band together to make a difference. We want not only to get people in our school and our community involved but we want to get people outside our community involved. We have the bracelets as our daily reminder to do what is right, to just be kind to each other. We are trying to create a bandwagon by starting off small and hope people will jump on and get involved.”
Brady said the T-shirts and bracelets will be sold to classmates before school, but anyone can purchase them. “We want to start it at our school since this is a good place to start. We are hoping people will see them, will wear them at their own schools, and get more people interested. We really want people to pass this on.”
The students will begin selling bracelets and T-shirts next week. T-shirts will be sold for $15 and bracelets will be sold for $3. All proceeds from the sale of shirts and bracelets will be split between a suicide prevention charity and an anti-bullying group.
For more information on Be Golden or purchasing T-shirts and bracelets call 304-952-1246.
— Contact Kate Coil at
kcoil@bdtonline.com
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