Lt. Governor Talks Bullying

On Wednesday morning, sixth grade students filled the Central Middle School auditorium to celebrate an initiative in their own school that was developed and implemented by eighth graders. The BAC, or Bully Awareness Crew, has only been around since the beginning of this school year, but already administrators, teachers and students at the Edgewater school feel that the effort is making a difference.

Joining them in the celebration was Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is visiting schools around the state to highlight anti-bullying efforts. This week is Bullying Awareness Week in Maryland, founded last year by First Lady Katie O'Malley.

What is unusual about the BAC at Central Middle is that the students are the leaders of the group. They develop anti-bullying programs for their fellow students. For example, they write songs, put on performances, create and read morning announcements and more.

Central Guidance Counselor Sandy Seward is the BAC adviser. She came up with the idea late last year and recruited rising seventh graders. They started the year with about three dozen students, and now have over 130—the majority of students in eighth grade.

Brown gave brief remarks at the beginning of the program and then settled in for the student-run assembly. First, students sang original songs, then gave testimonials of their own bullying experiences—as both tormentors and victims. One student, Hunter Koester, created video Public Service Announcements, or PSAs, about bullying through Facebook and texting.

When the official program was over, Brown took questions from the audience. Those questions included his own bullying experience, plus personal questions, like how much longer he'll serve as lieutenant governor (three years), how he came to be in his job (undergrad at Harvard, stint in the Army, Harvard Law, tour in Iraq, state delegate) and what his favorite color is (blue).

Brown said that a task force at the state level is working on implementing a variety of anti-bullying initiatives and school "best practices" to combat bullying. Brown thought that Central's innovative program might be a good one for the task force to look at implementing at other schools across the state.

"It's really changed the learning environment," Millie Beall said. "The program has really had an impact."