Somers Elementary School Students Stand Up Against Bullying

With public displays of hate on the rise, students at Somers Intermediate School gathered last week to put an end to bullying.

Students and teachers sported black attire last Wednesday to black out bullying as they committed to their second year as a No Place for Hate school. The student led movement seeks to combat hate and intolerance to provide an environment where students can come to school without the fear of being tormented.

Olivia See, Emily Snyder, Dana Cohen, Kayla Simoncini, Chloe Groarke, Anna Hagen, Robbie Gajda and Anthony Bulfamonte led the movement this year, encouraging their peers to be kind, treat everyone fairly and speak up if they see someone being hurt or bullied.

“We are wearing black to show that we are united against bullying,” fourth-grader Snyder said. “We don’t want it happening in our school.”

“We don’t want other kids to get bullied,” fifth-grader Cohen added. “Bullying is really bad and not a lot of people pay attention to it.”

Throughout the school year, the students, with guidance from school counselor Alexandria Todorov, work together to promote compassion, diversity and a safe and happy school by partaking in activities that brings the student body together.

“It’s so important,” Todorov said. “It really gives the kids a voice which makes it so much more powerful.”

During the schools March 28 assembly, the students performed a short skit enlightening their peers to the actions of a bully. After each student said something a bully might do, like pushing, punching or hitting, the over 700 students in attendance joined together and said, “That’s what bullies do.”

The student advocates agreed that bullying won’t be tolerated in their school and hoped their performance triggered change. Some admitted they had been picked on and said they wanted to prevent their friends from feeling the same pain they once experienced.

“Bullies do all these mean things and if you’re a bully watching this, you should know that even though you might not see yourself that way, it’s what a bully does, and we don’t want it here,” said fourth-grader Groarke. “Bullies aren’t tolerated in our school and if they are they, need to learn to stop and be a part of our No Place for Hate community.”

Anna Young