Norristown School District Addresses National Bullying Month

NORRISTOWN, PA — In commemoration of National Bullying Prevention Month in October, the Norristown Area School District is one of several local districts getting students involved in anti-bullying activities.

All students in grades 6 through 12 are participating in the Start With Hello presentations, presented by Sandy Hook Promise. The series of presentations teaches students small actions that aim to "reduce social isolation and bullying while creating a more connected school and community."

As part of Start With Hello, there will be a 45- minute assembly for students.

On Oct. 7, all district students were encouraged to wear blue t-shirts to stand together symbolically against bullying.

That was part of the 12th annual World Day of Bullying Prevention, as students in schools around the world joined in wearing blue.

Students in fifth grade earned incentives for positive behaviors while in class, and were allowed to choose one of six activities to participate in as a reward. Among those activities: Lego building.

Other reaffirming programs include the Hopes and Dreams program, where students post an aspiration of theirs on the wall for others to see and compliment them on, reinforcing positivity and a community atmosphere.

"I want to go to New York University and get a masters in economics, then go to the NBA or become a pilot," one student wrote.

Norristown was also involved in the creation of the Montgomery County Cyberbullying and Bullying Task Force report, which was ultimately issued to districts throughout the county. Julie Knudsen, a Norristown Area School District Social Worker, helped put together the report back in 2013.

One of the more original and helpful tools, according to Knudsen, is a bullying reporting form that requires information on the person making the report, the person being bullied, the alleged bully and witnesses, and differentiates between physical, verbal, emotional or exclusion and cyber-bullying.

Few in the local education community can forget the 2017 tragedy at Spring-Ford, when a freshman student who had been bullied online took her own life.

But the problem goes far beyond the suburbs of Philadelphia.

National statistics vary, but an aggregate of 80 different studies on bullying suggests one in five American students between 12 and 18 is bullied at some point during their middle or high school years.

The studies cited by the PACER Center, which established National Bullying Prevention Month, show that 15 percent of kids surveyed report being cyberbullied, while around 35 percent of students had been bullied in more "traditional," in-person ways.

Among the marquee National Bullying Prevention Month activities is Unity Day, observed on Wednesday, Oct. 24, when everyone is encouraged to wear and show orange to send a message that no child should ever experience bullying.

"Orange provides a powerful, visually compelling expression of solidarity," Paula Goldberg, the executive director of the PACER Center, said in a statement. "Whether it's hundreds of individuals at a school wearing orange, store owners offering orange products or a community changing a landmark to orange, the vibrant statement becomes a conversation starter, sending the supportive, universal message that bullying is never acceptable behavior."

Here's more about Unity Day: