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Health & Fitness

A commitment by students to end bullying

October is  National Bullying Month, and while preventing bullying, harassment and intimidation is a year-round effort, Mercer Island High School (MIHS) students have taken this month to engage in lessons, discussions and activities raising awareness of bullying and helping students to better identify it.

The vision of the Mercer Island School District is to prepare students to thrive in a cognitive, global and  digital world. But before students can think critically about issues facing our world or innovate in a global economy, they need a safe and secure learning environment.

On October 9, students participated in Unity Day, a national day of bullying awareness promoted by the Pacer National Bullying Prevention Center.  Students wore orange, signed commitment posters to prevent bullying and constructed an   orange chain link of rings in the main hallway of MIHS with words of inspiration or that are associated with bullying and isolation - all with the goal of supporting an end to bullying.

"I heard a lot of comments from students and staff that the events of the month have sparked great discussions," said MIHS teacher Charlie Hilen. "We had a great turnout of students wearing orange on the 9th to stand up against bullying and support people who have been bullied."

The bulk of the discussion around bullying happens through a program at the high school called Building Relationships in Diverse Groups to Empower Students and Staff (BRIDGES). BRIDGES brings together about five members from each of the four high school grade levels to provide support and resources for each other, particularly younger high school students. These students will meet once a week over the course of their time at MIHS. When one senior class graduates, the group adds five members of the next freshman class to the group.

"The goal is that each of these groups of students will be together and be able to build relationships with each other," says Hilen, who is also the faculty advisor for the school-wide group. "Another critical part of it is that it's a student-run program. The students work with faculty to prepare lessons, but in each classroom, every week they lead the discussions."

By using this period once a week, students are better able to engage with each other in a safe environment on topics that would otherwise only be discussed in assemblies. "This is a far more individualized and engaging environment for discussion," says Hilen.

"The key lesson about bullying this month is awareness that it happens, recognizing the behavior and having the conversation that we don't want that to happen here," Hilen said. "When a student sees bullying and stands up to stop it, there is a huge change in behavior for other students."

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