Students Prevent Bullying, Lend a Helping Hand

The fourth grade Olweus bullying program culminated Friday at with a special assembly.

The applied for and received the Olweus bullying grant last year and launched the program for the 2011-12 school year.

The program teaches students the language behind bullying, how to recognize bullying and—most importantly—how to feel empowered to step in and report the incidents to teachers and parents.

"I think it's going wonderfully," said Dr. Claire Miller, principal of Streams.

Each "special" teacher at Streams, including the librarians, Spanish, art, music and gym teachers, organized the assembly activities with a helping hand theme.

The hand represented how students should reach out with a helping hand when someone is being bullied.

The handprints also represented how each person is different and if everyone tries to get to know each other, they are less likely to bully each other.

Here is some of the feedback I got from students:

"I learned that it's (bullying) not very nice. It can hurt people's feelings and that's not good."

"You try to go and help them and tell the bully he wouldn't like it if he were the one getting bullied."

"If someone's being left out you need to include them."

"If someone new comes to school, you should try to be friends with them."

What do you think about Upper St. Clair School District's approach to prevent bullying? Tell us in the comments.