Volunteers from the audience did several exercises on what a bullying “situation” looks like and different actions a victim can take to avoid being bullied, along with steps to take when students observe these situations. Students learned that “reporting” the bullying situation is not “snitching.” Mr. Fulker reinforced this with the example that a 911 call on a neighbor’s house on fire is “reporting” and not considered “snitching.”
A dose of reality was served when Mr. Fulker explained the consequences of bullying for both the bullies and the victims. Bullies were warned that there are policies written in the Ohio Revised Code prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying with severe penalties that could cause the bully to end up facing Juvenile Court Judge Jason Aslinger. Victims of bullies have a higher high school and college drop-out rate, and struggle with depression, which can also lead to suicide.
Mr. Fulker has presented this program to several schools in the past on a classroom size level, and this was his first presentation in front of multiple grade levels. The presentation concluded with a video courtesy of Gail Whittington (who is also a counselor at Darke County Recovery) on drug and alcohol education to teach the students the dangers of abuse and how to make healthy choices.
With the rising levels of bullying incidents in our society, these presentations are a proactive approach to educating our youth along with the support of our parents and schools to diminish these unfortunate situations. With the full support of Judge Aslinger of the Darke County Juvenile Court, Mr. Fulker and Ms. Whittington will be offering these presentations to other Darke County schools in the future.
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| P.O. Robb Fulker speaks to the 7th and 8th graders at Franklin-Monroe |
I think it would be great for them to do this in Greenville schools as well.
ReplyDeleteI would Like to see them do this program to every School within Darke County... including Public & Private. Sounds like a great program for Children 4th Grade and up...
ReplyDeleteI feel that this approach to becoming educated about bullying is great. My son was bullied by a few children in this class. I am a former graduate along with my father, aunt and grandmother. I have wonderful memories. My aunt and I were hopeful my son would too. He is a gifted athlete like my father. His dreams were shattered. I hope the class listened and will appreciate each other. Bullying is fast spreading like a disease and eventually destroys. Thank God I have a son that is strong willed like his grandfather and can build new dreams someplace else.
ReplyDeleteMy child was bullied by a few students in both classes. When he reported things that happened to an adult in the hallway the adult told my child that they must see it happen. My child is a 4th generation to have attended FM. He applied for open enrollment to follow his grandfather's footsteps. No one would try to become his friend or get to know him. He is a gifted athlete and tried his best at basketball but was met up by a student that acted as a coach and a bully to pull others in to out my son. Small clique or not, bullying ruins the development of a child and should be made law.
ReplyDeleteA law for bullying? Are you freaking kidding me. It's a part of life. Kind of unfortunate, but I was bullied and I have benefited from it. I had my problems in high school, but it made me a stonger person. Each situation is different. The kid needs to have some kind of saftey net, whether it's a few friends or family. We can't be growing up a bunch of wussies that can't take a little name calling, or even a little shove. (I AM NOT saying fighting or shoving is fine!)
ReplyDeleteI should add that it's different now than when I was younger. Social media has made it much easier to spread rumors and stuff. I would not be opposed to monitoring underage kids or not allowing them facebook and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteBut then you run into problems like who will monitor what kids are doing on facebook. Parents work more than they did, and many unfortunatly don't care...
@AMFRED
ReplyDeleteYes, bullying should be made a crime in Darke County. AC360 has made the public aware of bullying in schools across the nation. When you want to name call yourself such as wussie you are talking to me the kid who made the complaints at FM. You are probably a parent or student. I am far from a wussie. I stood up for what is wrong. The kids in my grade there are all good people. A few guys decided to make FM hell for me everyday of my life. They know it and its on public police report of what they did. I became educated about other kids suffering in their grades and self esteem because of it. Name calling has lead kids my age to take their own life. We live in a world where image is everything. Nobody should be called any names adult or kid. Since Columbine the suicide of Ryan Halligan, and countless others you better stop and think we got a problem. Bullying leads to destruction. When you address my mother you need to address me the person there. It was honorable of our Judge to educate FM on this issue. It's no longer name calling.