These eye opening presentations on ‘Bullying” have caught the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Unified School District and many community members throughout the City of Los Angeles.
Last month she embarked to Murchison Elementary just outside of Ramona Gardens Housing Projects, where most of the kids who attend this school live. THE VOICE COMMUNITY NEWS attended the school assembly and witnessed eager students begin to file in the auditorium.
There were several LAPD Officers which are assigned to the Ramona Gardens Projects at the assembly. Many Officers greeted students as they walked into the auditorium. Some students passed by with a smile giving “High Fives” to the Officers.
The assembly began with Harmon asking the students, “How many of you know what Bullying is?” - Most students raised their hands.
She then asked if the students, “Have
you seen it happen at school?” Again
most students raised their hands. Harmon
then said, “We are here today to
change that behavior!”
In recent years, Bullying has been
brought to the forefront of society due
to the fact that media outlets have
highlighted various tragic deaths as a
result of Bullying.
There have been several cases across
the country and the world where kids
commit suicide, plan massive attacks or
bomb threats focused on killing others
because of Bullying. It’s happening at
schools, churches, and the workplace.
Harmon ask the kids at the assembly
which were 4th and 5 graders, “How
many of them had a cell phone?”
Nearly 90% of the students raised their
hands. Harmon then asked, “How many
have a facebook account? ” LAPD
Officers, teachers and this reporter
were all surprised to the overwhelming
amount of students that had facebook
accounts (Nearly 95% of the students.)
Harmon then asked, “How many of you
use text, or messaging?” Just about
everyone again raised their hands.
The fact is most students (even
elementary students) are using social
media, computers, cell phones, texting,
messaging, to communicate with friends,
utilizing Aps such as facebook, foursquare, and myspace, and hundreds of
other programs available to communicate over the internet.
 LAPD speaks to children and youngsters on
how to address harassment of others |
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Today, Bullying has carried over into cyberspace which is more difficult to control because of its rapid communication, rumors can spread at lightning speeds, reaching hundreds, thousands, to millions, seeing it happen and sharing or tweeting to it to others in their social groups, the process is repeated many times over, most people who share it are not aware that they are enabling the Bullies to continue these antics to hurt someone.
Harmon’s presentation addressed several types of Bullying both in person and by Cyber Bullying (utilizing computers, the internet, and cell phones.)
The problem or danger here is that many parents are not computer literate or internet savvy to know what there kids are doing or who they are texting or messaging, and many may not even be aware of this happening.
Most parents buy the phone for their kids as a safety mechanism to call home in case of an emergency. The technology in our world has changed and evolved, yet the education on how to use or not use these emerging technologies is so far behind. |
Harmon said, “There are no courses designed to educate anyone on what to do and not do when it comes to social media.”
Anti-Bulling
There is a global fight against bullying,
not to take it, not to promote it, not to
engage in it. More people are taking
notice after being exposed to it via
presentations such as Harmon’s.
Even celebrities such as Lady Gaga
and Kobe Bryant, have made public
service announcements which focuses
on bullying telling fans that it is not a
game, it is no laughing matter.
The biggest bully in the world…
The school culture across the country
is part of the problem, as school officials across the country try to cover up
or downplay bullying incidents. Harmon’s presentation is strong and to
the point, and gets the message across
that Bullying should never be tolerated or taken lightly. The presentation
given by Harmon highlights several
occasions where bullying happens, at
home, at school, at work, with classmates, friends and family members
and coworkers.
The presentation educated ALL in the attendance, students,
teachers, administrators, police officers
and this reporter.
It gave example on how a simple
comment may often be disregarded by
teachers and administrators where it is
not addressed or reported. These bullying
incidents can even involve the teachers
and staff (which do not realize of being
part of the problem), it can escalate
to where an entire class will begin to
Bully someone thinking it is funny, not
knowing the harm they can cause the
individual that is the being singled out.
Bullying is misunderstood
Not everyone is on the same page or
can agree what constitutes Bullying.
Bullying is a form of aggressive
behavior that is intentional, hurtful
(physical and psychological) and /or
threatening and persistent often
repeated.
Examples of Physical Bullying are:
Hitting, slapping, elbowing ,
shouldering, shoving someone in a
hurtful or embarrassing way, kicking,
taking, stealing, damaging, defacing
belongings of another, restraining, and
pinching.
Examples of Verbal Bullying:
Name calling, insulting remarks or
put downs, repeated teasing, Racist
remarks, gender remarks, harassment,
threats and intimidation.
Examples of Indirect Bullying
Destroying relationships, destroying
some ones reputation, humiliation and
embarrassment, intimidation, gossiping, spreading nasty and malicious rumors
and live about someone, hurtful
graffi ti, exclusion of someone from
a group or social club, stealing
boyfriends/girlfriends, making facial
expressions, treating gestures, taunting, insulting, glares, dirty looks, nasty
jokes, notes being passed around.
Example of Cyber Bullying:
Negative text messages on cell
phones, email, or voicemail messages,
mean telephone calls or verbal threats.
Cyber Bullying is most common among
children ages 12 to 17, but it may also
involve adults. Adults accused of
harassing children or teens are generally
referred to as cyber-harassers or cyberstalkers.
As our world evolves to electronic
communication children are being
exposed to it at a young age as most
adolescents have an e-social life.
Teens and by the poll Harmon used at
the assembly even younger kids use the
Internet for school work, cell phones
to communicate, social networks to
post content or schedule events, and
mobile devices to stay connected with
their peers.
Unfortunately, even legislation
governing the use of social or mobile
media has not kept pace, thus leaving
law enforcement at a disadvantage
when encountering such cases.
What can you do to stop it?
Here are some tips that community
members can do:
Share and this article with friends,
family members and coworkers. Educate
yourself on what laws pertain in this
state, county and city ordinances.
Collaborate with school administrators
and Parent Teacher Student Associations,
Neighborhood Watch Groups. Work
with each other to develop clear and
responsive policies on the use of electronic media on and off campus, on how
students can safely report Cyber Bullying, and on what remedies are available
for suspects and victims. This policy also should defi ne the roles of school
and law enforcement offi cials, outline
penalties for students and educators
who ignore it, and detail parental
notifi cation.
Parents, Teachers, Administrators,
Human Resource staff at the place of
employment should all be educated on
Bullying.
Many people often experience bullying as a passive witness and do not
engage intervene because a lack of
knowledge, if more people would put
themselves in the shoes of the person
being bullied, they would not do it or
tolerate it.
At the end of Harmon’s presentation
at Murchison, she had all the students
stand up and make a pledge to create
the change and asked the students to
repeat the following phrases;
“I am a strong student, I’m a leader,
I will treat others with respect, I refuse to bully others, I promise to tell
an adult when I see bullying, I refuse
to watch, I refuse to laugh, I refuse to
join in, I will be a good role model, I
will not make others feel bad, I’m a
do something person, not a do nothing person, I will help change my
school, sticking up for someone is the
right thing to do, I will not post negative comments on the computer, I will
stand up and speak out against bullying, and I will make a difference in my
school” The kids clapped, cheered and
gave high fi ves to each other. Teachers
were grateful for the presentation.
Martha Cisneros a community member
who came to listen to the presentations
said, “This presentation was full of
passion, very educational, and a eye
opener for all of us here today.”
We also spoke with Antonio Torres, a fifth grade teacher at Murchison, who
brought his class to listen to this presentation. Torres said, “The presentation
was informative, I think it sends a clear
concise message to the kids who are
Bullying and at the same time empower
kids to step up and let them know it
is not right to Bully someone. I think
the kids will bring up many questions
in our follow up in class and we will
have dialog on problems that maybe
some kids have been having at school,” said Torres.
I asked Torres what he
thought when Harmon asked the kids
if they have witnessed Bullying at this
school and overwhelmingly everyone
raised their hand.
Torres replied, “I
think we are not isolated to this problem
and I believe all schools have it. This
presentation has made me more alert of
the problems that can occur at school
and I will defi nitely pay closer attention
to kids conversations and I think the
kids will take this information with
them to their homes, this presentation
is powerful and could help our entire
community.” Torres also mentioned,“I was very surprised to hear our kids
had facebook accounts, and Harmon
pointing out that kids may have two
accounts, one that mom and dad know
about and others that their friends use
to keep things from their parents.”
Torres also commented, “We have
a policy at this school that all phones
should be turned off, and they should
not be utilizing a phone at all, if we
catch anyone using one, it will be taken
away from the student.”
The day after the presentation, Harmon
followed up with an email which
stated, “I would like to thank the
Hollenbeck Area Community Safety
Partnership Offi cers for attending the
Anti Bullying Assembly at Murchison
Elementary School yesterday. In the
last few weeks 5 US Teens have committed suicide because of Bullying, and
65 since 2009.”
Harmon sees the trend of Bullying
increasing and is taking preventive
measures to stop it. If you want Harmon to present at your school, church
or Town Hall meeting you can contact
THE VOICE COMMUNITY NEWS.
http://www.thevoicepub.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/March_2012_FINAL_VOICE.92142629.pdf
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