What Hazlet Schools Are Doing For Nat'l Bullying Prevention Month

HAZLET, NJ — October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and Hazlet public schools have a wide range of activities planned, according to Hazlet schools superintendent Dr. Scott Ridley.

Here's what they've done and what is yet to come this October:

During the week of Oct. 21 (School Violence Awareness Week), Hazlet Middle School will have a "Mix It Up" lunch, where students are encouraged to sit at a different lunch table. Peer leaders will provide conversation starters, board games, etc. to help students meet someone new, said Hazlet Middle School principal Christine McCoid.

Last week, (Week of Respect), school counselors led classroom lessons during learning lab regarding demonstrating respect for self and others. They discussed respect, tolerance, understanding and acceptance. They also had each student share how they demonstrate respect. The students wrote their message on index cards and that will become a bulletin board for the month.

They also had their Week of Respect spirit week, with a pep rally and a theme each day, such as wear your favorite sports team to "team up against bullying," wear HMS school colors to show Hurricane Unity and wear tie dye to show you won't get "tied down with drama."

They had a "Respect Your Selfie" photo booth in the cafeteria, where students were paired and grouped with others to meet new kids. And on Oct. 23 (Unity Day), Hazlet Middle School students and staff will wear orange to show the message: "Together against bullying. United for kindness, acceptance and inclusion."

At Raritan High School, during the week of October 7-11 (Week of Respect) students in Mr. Shatkus' English 1 class used the philosophies of Cicero and broke into small groups to talk about respecting the opportunities that are given to them.

The high school will also have National Ally Week, where students will talk about what an ally is, why they are necessary and what to do to be an ally to the LGBTQ community. In Honors Biology, students defined respect; identified ways to respect the environment and correlated them to respect for one another.

In Digital Photography, they learned about famous photographs that changed history. This includes the "Saigon Execution," Napalm Girl and The Little Rock Nine. The students focused on the story of Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Massery, who eventually became friends.

And students and teachers participated in the Hazlet Out of Darkness Walk this past Sunday, October 13 to support awareness of and services for those struggling with mental health issues and for suicide prevention.

On the topic of vaping, Raritan High students also researched information on the dangers of vaping and worked on activities, messaging boards and announcements in a movement to "Respect yourself — Respect your life" and worked on planning activities to relieve stress, such as aromatherapy, sand play, coloring pages, clay, etc. as relaxation activities, all of which will be offered in the high school guidance office later this year.

Raritan High School students also participated in "Heroes and Cool Kids," where older high school teens met with all the fifth graders in the district earlier this month to discuss anti-bullying, self-esteem and substance resistance (resisting peer pressure).

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