As a former victim of bullying, I would like to think that others wouldn't have to endure the same school experiences that I did. As a teacher, I tried numerous times to stop bullying but met with limited success. Principal Alan J. Capasso of Greenwich High School started a mandatory anti-bias, anti-bullying program by telling the freshmen class, "Names Can Really Hurt Us." This looks like a good program for those willing to take the time to give it a try.
The name of the program is "Names". It was started by Marji Lipshez-Shapiro, the Anti-Defamation League's Connecticut regional director of education, in 1995. In order to get the program going, students and staff members go through two months of training and preparation. They get totally immersed in feelings and straight talk. Emotions run high and even wind up with some amazing apologies.
"It is a pervasive media message that being mean is cool, with put-downs and the like," Ms. Lipshez-Shapiro, said, noting that cyber-bullying, which invokes rumor and insults via the popular social-networking sites Facebook and MySpace, has become a huge concern.
Over the last 11 years, some 65,600 Connecticut high school students have participated in "Names," which is sponsored and supervised by the Connecticut Office of the Anti-Defamation League. Guided by teachers, trained student volunteers and league facilitators, students talk with the unflinching candor of children about topics most adults would prefer to avoid: gossip, rumor, physical harassment, racism, homophobia, depression, eating disorders, self-mutilation, drinking, drugs, suicide -- the full range of bullying behavior and its consequences.
"Names" is not the only anti-bullying program in town. "Twenty-nine states, including Connecticut and New Jersey, have enacted legislation against bullying, intimidation or harassment and 11 others are in the process, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures."
Although anti-bullying programs take time and money away from budgets that are already pushed to the limits, they are necessary if we want all students to feel safe in the school environment. These programs might even be the most important part of the school year.