Stop Bullies in Their Tracks! Workshop Friday

Free Program Designed for Parents, Students, Teachers and Community Members

Story by Anna Oakes

A Closer Look at Bullying—In the coming weeks, read High Country Press for a special feature on school bullying—including personal accounts, expert findings and remarks and observations from local school personnel and lawmakers.

Bullying isn’t just a problem for the schools. Everyone—including students, parents, teachers and community members—can take steps to prevent bullying.

You can start by attending a free workshop called Stop Bullies in Their Tracks! at the Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (BUUF) this Friday, September 11, beginning at 7:00 p.m. A free spaghetti dinner will be provided at 6:00 p.m. in the Founder’s Hall at the front of the BUUF building, and the workshop will take place in the sanctuary.

Veteran Greensboro teacher Annette Green will lead the workshop, which is designed for parents, students in grades 6 to 12, community members and educators. Green is a regular presenter on school violence issues. Participants will learn about the dynamics of bullying, how best to support victims and perpetrators and strategies to stop bullying as it occurs.

“[Green] will be facilitating a discussion about bullying and what community members, parents and teachers can do to help support the students who are being bullied as well as the [bullies] themselves,” said Kathy Staley, one of the coordinators of the workshop.

Green will show a film called Let’s Get Real, a bullying prevention documentary created by GroundSpark. GroundSpark is a nonprofit organization led by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff that has produced and distributed films, educational resources and campaigns on issues ranging from environmental concerns to affordable housing to preventing prejudice.

Let’s Get Real gives young people the chance to tell their stories in their own words.

“Let’s Get Real doesn’t sugarcoat the truth or feature adults lecturing kids about what to do when ‘bad’ kids pick on them,” according to a description of the film on the GroundSpark website.

The 90-minute film will be followed by a discussion. The entire workshop should last until 9:00 or 9:30 p.m., Staley said.

Staley said that she and a few others spoke to the BUUF congregation about their own personal stories involving in-school violence and bullying during a service in March of this year.

“After talking to parents and family members at the BUUF…we realized we needed to be providing more support for family members, teachers and students who are facing these types of situations,” she said.

Free childcare will be provided for participants. The Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is located at 381 East King Street. For more information or to RSVP for a babysitter, email Staley at staleykl1971@yahoo.com or call Linda Lopez at 828-719-5284.

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