Current Affairs Students Visit Middle School
by Tim Hadley
October 09, 2009
On Friday, October 9th, 10 high school students from Mr. Hadley’s Current Affairs class visited three middle school class rooms to present information about bullying. The Current Affairs students spent three days researching and preparing information to share. Students used a variety of methods when delivering their information. Several groups used visual media such as a poster. A group used a quiz to survey students to see if they had ever been a bully. Another group used a skit in which they presented a scenario of what it might be like to be bullied and then showed what might have been done differently to prevent the situation.
The 10 Current Affairs students were divided and presented over six types of bullying they had discussed in class. Those types included: physical bullying, verbal bullying, indirect bullying, social alienation, intimidation and cyberbullying which occurs most often over electronic devices such as computers or cell phones. Statistics report that 1 out of every 4 kids are bullied. 1out of 5 kids admit to being a bully. On the playground an incidence of bullying occurs every 7 minutes with adults intervening only 4% of the time and peers helping only 11% of the time.
Students visited the classrooms of Mr. Millikin, Mrs. Nunn, and Mr. Stone. The students in these classes were very attentive and had many questions for the presenters. The most frequent questions were, “Have you ever been bullied?” or “Have you ever bullied anyone?”. The high school students handled the questions well, admitting often that they had been bullied or that they had bullied someone else, but had learned from their mistakes. It was great for students to identify with older peers that have been through their situation and have advice for how to handle it.
The high schools students although nervous at first, admitted that they had an enjoyable time. It is the hope of the class that several students will think twice about being a bully and will talk to someone if they feel they are being bullied.
