by Emily Wemhoff

STA’s first annual “Anti-bullying Week” was held March 19 through 23. The week’s events were coordinated by guidance counselor Amanda Johnson and the Peer Helpers, a group of student counselors.

According to Johnson, she was inspired to have an Anti-bullying Week after attending a “Mean Girls” seminar earlier this year.

“I noticed when I first started here that bullying was an increasing issue and I wanted a way to create awareness and knowledge about the effects of [bullying],” Johnson said. “The Peer Helpers were instrumental in creating this [anti-bullying week] and their ideas helped to make it a reality.”

Bullying has been coming more and more into the national spotlight recently. Over 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation, according to kidshealth.org. ABC Family created a movie called Cyberbully to call others to stop the online taunting. The documentary Bully, given a controversial R rating, highlights the tragedies that occur every day due to bullying.

Even though bullying is appearing more frequently in some places, according to freshman Hillary Talken, bullying is not much of a problem at STA. However, she said that when bullying does occur, it is “more verbal than physical here. Obviously there aren’t physical fights at STA, and girls usually use words to hurt others more than their bodies.”

Although this might be true, Johnson said, “I don’t think we can have enough reminders about how we treat each other.”

Anti-bullying Week’s goal was to increase STA’s perception of what bullying actually is, according to Johnson. Each day of the week a different activity was held to increase awareness. On March 21, the guidance department was able to bring in speaker Tina Meier whose daughter ended her own life due to cyberbullying.

“We looked for a speaker and a foundation that would send a message to STA about this serious issue,” Johnson said. “I think mentally, bullying can break a person down to the point that they feel there is no way out. Especially if they don’t have anyone to advocate for them, I think it’s pretty evident what the end result could be, if we are using our speaker as an example.”

Some students felt this speaker was the most beneficial event of the week. Sophomore Dreama Weber said Mrs. Meier’s story made her “want to stop bullying wherever I see it. It is an injustice that needs to be put to an end.”

For Talken, seeing the posters in the Quad of teenagers who had taken their own lives due to bullying made her think more seriously about the subject.

“When we saw the posters, and we heard the mother’s story, I think we all realized that bullying is a real thing and not just something you hear about,” Talken said.

Johnson hopes that Anti-bullying Week will expand after such a successful first year.

“I always hope for bigger and better things every year,” Johnson said. “As much as we are able, I want to have a big campaign. Many girls and staff members commented on what they thought was helpful about the week and ideas for next year. The real benefit I have noticed is that girls feel safer talking about this tough topic.”

According to Johnson, students need to be aware of bullying throughout the year, not just one week, in order to make improvements in their actions.

“We need to expand on what we already know and bring new ideas to the table,” Johnson said. “That’s how we create changes in behavior.”

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Anti-Bullying Week’s Schedule

Monday– Stand Up Against Bullying- Everyone was asked to stand at lunch to support victims of bullying. “All those who have been subjected to bullying feel uncomfortable and exposed all the time,” Johnson said. “This was a way to have everyone feel a little bit of that discomfort and make a statement at the same time.”

Tuesday– Teal Tuesday- “Who doesn’t love a dress down day!” Johnson said. “Plus, Teal and Blue are the campaign colors for Anti-Bullying initiatives.”

Wednesday– Walk in Silence – “All students and staff were asked to walk in silence while going through the quad in remembrance of those who have taken their own lives as a result of bullying,”Johnson said. Tina Meier also spoke.

Thursday and Friday– Peer Helpers Fundraiser- “Mean Girls” and Pizza- “We wanted to have a fun end to the week, but also show a movie that so clearly demonstrates the underhanded, subtle, and even at times, outright awful things that bullying can do,” Johnson said.