Braden River Middle School takes stand against bullying

RIVER CLUB — On the playground in fifth grade, Halleigh Johnston cringed each time another child called her an unkind name for no particular reason.

“I wondered why people would do that,” said Halleigh, now an eighth-grader at Braden River Middle School. “Your body’s made of the same thing as theirs. It’s not different. I put on my brave face, but it hurt inside. My mom told me not to take it personally.”

Halleigh heeded her mother’s advice, but knows bullying can hurt, even leading some children to commit suicide or take other extreme actions. 

She and her classmates at Braden River Middle School last week joined together in a campaign against bullying as the school celebrated its own Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week Oct. 16 through Oct. 23. October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

Each day, students received lessons on anti-bullying topics, such as the meaning of unity, the impacts of being a bystander to bullying and strategies to address bullying. On Oct. 21, Unity Day, students and staff wore orange to serve as a visible message of being united for kindness and inclusion. The morning kicked off with an impromptu dance session, led by teachers and staff, in the school’s courtyard.

“We felt it was important for us to come together to take a stand against bullying,” Assistant Principal Kimberlain Zenon-Richardson said of the festivities. “We are a very diverse group of students and staff. We decided to focus on unity.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].