Menu
YES holds anti-bullying conference
Nevada Daily Mail
The Youth Enrichment Services at Nevada High School hosted an anti-bullying conference to allow students to share their experiences and learn about the effect bullying can have on others.
The conference Jan. 22 hosted three speakers, Jennifer Thomas, a juvenile officer with the 28th Judicial Circuit Juvenile Office, Trisha Bridgewater, a psychologist, and Jeanna Brauer, coordinator of counseling at Cottey College.
Students from Nevada Middle School and Sheldon also attended the conference.
Madeline Garrett, a member of YES, opened the conference with a short speech to the students about how "the smallest change" in behavior "can make a difference." Her speech ended with an invitation for the students to split up at tables and play a game so the students could mingle.
Students then heard Thomas speak about bullying and how anyone can be bullied in some way, whether being the object of gossiping from others or being intimidated in ways such as having their lunch money taken, she said.
When she asked her audience who had been bullied, about 75 percent of the students' hands shot up in the air. She asked who had been a bully at one time and a few students reluctantly put their hands up.
Thomas asked the students to define bullying. Students told her bullying consisted of making others feel as though their thoughts were worthless and someone hurting someone else.
"I agree with all of those. Those are exactly what bullying is," Thomas said. "If we looked it up in the dictionary, those would all fit the definition."
One of Thomas' main points in her talk with the students was about social media and the ease in which bullying can happen in that medium. She brought up Facebook and Twitter, and then moved onto newer forums of social media such as Yik Yak, which is a way for people in a community to post notes anonymously. The students were quick to point out Yik Yak is aimed at those of college age, but told Thomas about After School, an almost identical social medium targeted at high school students.
"Bullying has been such a hot topic, especially with social media." With (Yik Yak and After School), they are allowing people to "put this stuff out and it's horrible what they're saying about people. If someone says something about you, and then everyone joins in because one, they think it's funny, and two, they have no clue of what is true and what's not, then how's that going to make you feel?"
Thomas told the students if they are bullying, it could lead to serious consequences, including out of school suspensions of varying lengths depending on the severity of the case.
Thomas told students companies wouldn't want to hire someone who was a bully in school, and the students had too much to look forward to in their lives and they should not ruin their chances of having their dream careers by making others "feel as bad as you do in the moment."
Bridgewater spoke to the students following Thomas, and her talk was about the "brain on bullying."
She handed students documents about how bullying affects students' self esteem. The impact for children who are bullied, according to stopbullying.gov, include depression and anxiety, health complaints and changes in sleep and eating patterns.
Another document provided, coming from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Children Now (2001), stated that of those bullied, 85.6 percent said this had affected their self-confidence. The document also noted 37.7 percent have increased alcohol/ tobacco consumption.
"Our experiences manage how we navigate life," Bridgewater said. "One of the worst (forms of bullying) happens to overweight children who get teased a lot. Their self-esteem permanently is affected. The rest of their life, they are fighting it because kids (have no filter). They say things when they are little. So your brain starts mapping things out about how to deal with things. You walk into a room and already anticipate that everybody thinks you are fat.
"When we have a lot of experiences like that, it maps our brain, so the jokes or whatever through adulthood leads you to expect every situation you enter to go that way. That's the way it works."
Chloe Bartlett, a junior at Nevada High School, said the conference taught her a lot about helping prevent bullying.
"Bullying is something that is going on at school and in the community. It's a problem everywhere. I think this conference helped promote awareness. I will always smile at people because they may be having a tough day."
The final speaker of the anti-bullying conference was Brauer, who gave students a lecture on standing up for those who are bullied.
"How many of you think you would step up, if you saw someone in danger?" Brauer asked. Many students raised their hands. "Given the situations, given the means, given the people, it's hard to tell. Everybody is different."
She showed students news clips about studies done on the bystander effect, which showed while 80 percent of single, or ungrouped people help those in bad situations, only 20 percent of those in groups would help.
Brauer said when groups of people see action; usually the people in those groups will wait for someone else to take action.
She also told the students how the commonality of cell phones made people more unaware because pedestrians and people in public are constantly using their phones.
"Know how to help. When we are going through the day, we don't often see things. We are not always aware," she said. "Maybe you are at a football game in Kansas City, and you see a guy acting weird. Go up to a police officer and tell them, then go enjoy the game."
Emily Dunlap, a member of YES and a student at Nevada High School, said she felt the conference went really well.
"It was incredibly productive. We will take information from today and give it to the administrators at our school and the surrounding schools. We will also take it with us when we go to Jefferson City to give to (Missouri House Rep.) Patricia Pike," she said. "I'm really glad everything worked out well."