Since 2010, the month of October has played host to the observance of National Bullying Prevention Month. Many schools throughout the country engage in activities that spread awareness for the campaign, and the MUS Counseling Department is no exception.
Its promotion of Bullying Prevention Month, which was cleverly termed “Be Kind, Bruh!” at its inception, has become a staple in the school’s yearly social and emotional learning curriculum.
“From the Counseling Department, everything that we promote and preach is based on kindness, positivity, and loving one another,” says Upper School Counselor Chima Onwuka.
“We’ve always encouraged camaraderie between the students, and this month isn’t just about pizza and a grub day, but stopping bullying and seeing positivity within the student body without the help of the faculty.”
The counseling department sold shirts that displayed the slogan, providing students who purchased one with a day during the month to dress down in school. Additionally, students were encouraged to write a note of kindness to a friend, teacher, or coach, which were delivered to them by whichever counselor the note was given to.
Another option was the submission of emails to one of the counselors containing an act of kindness that another student has committed to show their appreciation and reward their friend’s kindness with points for his respective grade’s Dean’s Cup standings, a program which Upper School Counselor Candy Harris has termed “Caught U Being Kind.”
The month culminated with a lunch and learn in the Thomas Amphitheater on October 21. Students discussed the goals of bullying prevention and participated in a video challenge organized by Harris.
Students’ filming of a video including an act of kindness earned them a pizza lunch. These videos were showcased in homerooms on Friday, Nov. 7.
“The biggest thing is to provide awareness about what teasing looks like versus bullying through the events and the programs,” says Onwuka. “If we can do that, we will have come a long way in the decline of bullying at MUS.”
