THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502030254
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
After weeks of intense training with ``licensed professionals,'' the students of Windsor Woods Elementary School are officially bully-proof.
``Bullybusters,'' a new program developed by the school's guidance department, gives students in kindergarten through fifth-grade safe and effective ways to get rid of bullies.
Kids taking your lunch money? Teasing you about your shoes? Snatching things off your desk?
Bullybusters suggests:
Ignore them.
Count to 10.
Politely ask them to leave you alone.
Firmly ask them to leave you alone.
Threaten to tell someone.
Tell.
``You hear stories of bullying in every grade,'' said guidance counselor Cathy Hastie. ``We want the children to know that they can deal with it. They can usually solve the problem themselves without bullying back.''
Hastie began planning the program in December, after talking with Assistant Principal Lois Mullhall about the large number of students complaining about being picked on.
``When you hear kids talking about being bullied, it's usually nothing serious,'' Hastie said. ``We wanted to do something to help them help themselves.''
To get the students' attention, Hastie, along with her sidekick, guidance counselor Rose Frank, posted signs and made announcements about the coming of ``Bullybusters.''
In mid-January, the two dressed in official ``Bullybuster'' gear, including flight suits, donated by their Adopt-A-School partner, VF-143, black baseball caps and ``BB'' badges, and visited two grade levels per week.
Each lesson began with the ``Bullybuster'' theme song, which goes to the tune of ``Ghostbusters,'' and the students were asked to define a bully. ``We want children to understand that bullies are people with feelings,'' Hastie said. ``Anybody can be a bully.''
Then, Hastie and Frank questioned students about how they feel about being picked on and brainstormed ways of defeating bullies. They found that most students have been bullied at least once.
``Children tend to take everything to heart,'' Hastie added.
The counselors posted a chart, listing the six steps to ``Bullybusting,'' including ignoring the bully and counting to 10.
``If you do have a bully bugging you, you try to deal with it yourself,'' said Allen Braun, a fifth-grader. ``If you can't, ask somebody to help you. I hope that it works, so we can come to school here knowing that there's no bullies here to pick on us,'' he added.
Two students were picked in each classroom to role-play, so the students could see how to use the six steps. These students were then named classroom bully patrols, and have the responsibility of listening to classmates about bullying problems.
``It was fun,'' said Joey Augustine, a fifth-grader. ``I learned a lot.''
Each class was given a ``Bullybuster'' sign, which is hung by the patrols every day that they don't hear a complaint about bullying.
The students practiced the Bullybuster pledge, which they will recite Wednesday, as part of a school-wide ``Bullybuster'' Day.
On this day, students will receive special red and white stickers and certificates and sign a banner in the cafeteria. ``We want everyone to know that this is a bully-free zone,'' Hastie said.
Students have been receptive to the lessons, eager to tell personal stories, while begging to answer questions and offering to be classroom patrols. ``It's good that we're going to have a bully-free school,'' said Sarah Holloman, a fifth-grader. ``Then people won't get hurt.''
Hastie and Frank are surprised by its success. ``We've been real impressed by the way it's been received,'' Frank said. ``We never expected this.''
Ultimately, Hastie and Frank want to not only reduce problems, but to help the students to realize that they have some control over bullying situations.
``We want to empower the kids,'' Frank said. ``They have the right to say `no' to bullying. They don't have to accept it.'' MEMO: BULLYBUSTER PLEDGE
I shall not bully others, I shall try to help others who are bullied
and I shall include others who are easily left out. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by HOLLY WESTER
Cathy Hastie (above) and Rose Frank, dressed in official
``Bullybuster'' gear, address fifth-graders at Windsor Woods
Elementary. Among the impressed was Joey Augustine, who said he
found the exercise fun.
by CNB