Bullies shown doors
ADAMS TWP — The Mars Middle School guidance counselor hopes a monthlong program will close the door on bullying.
Tanis Rose organized February’s Anti-bully/Cyber bully Awareness Month at the school, which educates students in the seventh and eighth grades.
In the program, all 22 homeroom classes decorated their doors in an anti-bully or anti-cyber bully theme.
Rose said some students covered the doors with photographs of students holding anti-bully messages. Others created works of art, and others used characters from movies or pop culture deliver messages.
The doors were judged on creativity, message and overall appeal by staff and teachers, Rose said.
On Wednesday, which Rose designated as Pinkout Day, the number of students wearing pink in each homeroom will be added to the score given to each decorated door.
The seventh-grade and eighth-grade homerooms with the highest scores each will receive a breakfast party.
She said this week, anti-bully/anti-cyber bully videos will be shown each day during the homeroom period.
“My goal is by defining clearly what bullying is, and planting those seeds, maybe I can change some behavior,” Rose said.
She said the awareness month activities are in addition to the regular monthly Planet Peace program in the district.
Planet Peace has middle school students break into small groups to address the topics of a positive school environment, being respectful and getting along.
“Everyone says ‘Schools have bullying,’ but bullying goes on everywhere,” Rose said. “I wanted to partner with parents for an entire month and really try to address in a more concentrated way the issue of bullying.”
Rose sent a letter to parents listing ways they can talk to their children about bullying, and suggesting that they monitor their children’s social media accounts, pay attention to who they are hanging out with, and report any bullying they witness at school.
“But mainly, parents could just talk to their kids about how to treat other people,” Rose said.
