Glen Urquhart School

Evidenced by the diverse folk tales that she shared, bullies have existed throughout the history of humankind.One tale she told was set in a Polish village with townspeople quite distressed over the havoc wreaked by the local bully.  A wise rabbi instructed the man to bring in his finest feather pillow, to cut it open, and to release the feathers into the town square.  Once this task had been completed, he was told to gather each feather in once again.

Lower School students heard a version of this story that featured a 4^th grade schoolyard bully and his elementary school teacher.  The tale illustrated the point that once unkind words and deeds have been enacted, it is virtually impossible to retrieve them.  To be sorry doesn’t cut it!  The damage has been done.Another story told of a junior high boy entering a new school only to be ridiculed and threatened by school bullies for wearing the color pink.  In defense of the new student, the entire school banded together to wear pink the following day, effectively disempowering the bully.  Several GUS students shared their own story of banding together to wear the color purple in support of gays and lesbians.

Each presentation involved role playing to illustrate the principles of bullying prevention.  In addition, Pearmain led the students in brainstorming creative ways to respond in bullying situations.  All student answers were thoughtful and well-reasoned, and demonstrated the students’ grasp of the topic.  Pearmain also asked questions near the end of each assembly inviting students (and teachers) to indicate if they had ever bullied, if they had ever been the target of bullying, if they had ever defended a bullying target, or if they had ever been a passive bystander.  With this parting bit of introspection, Pearmain drove home the point that throughout our lives, we have all played a variety of roles in bullying situations.  To defeat bullying, we must all actively embrace the role of the defender.

Written by:
Patty Clark