UH Athletes to Hawaii Kids: Don’t Be Bullies
UPDATED 10/4/11 6:30 p.m.
A volleyball player faces the camera in front of a white backdrop.
“Bullying is a concern for all of us,” said University of Hawaii senior Kanani Danielson, her expression serious. “Whether you’re a student, teacher, parent or friend, we all need to work together to prevent bullying of anyone whether in or outside of school.”
The short spot is one of six anti-bullying videos that will air on telecasts of high school and college sporting events. The public service announcements are just part of a “peaceful schools” anti-bullying campaign announced by Hawaii officials on Tuesday.
Flanked by student athletes and highs chool students, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Education Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, Hawaii State Board of Education Chair Don Horner, and board member Keith Amemiya announced the campaign on at UH’s Stan Sheriff Center’s basketball court.
UPDATE
The campaign will cost $1 million, [pdf] later at an education board meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Half of that money is slated for hiring new staff, the other half is dedicated to programs for teachers and administrators. The campaign will focus in part on using peer mediation to stop bullying from escalating. One such program has been in use at Leilehua High School in Wahiawa.
“It’s not talking to adults, it’s like talking to friends,” a female student and peer mediator from Leilehua told the board.
Testimony at the meeting indicated that the department will try to pinpoint bullying “hotspots,” such as the schools and grade levels where bullying is most prevalent. So far, data from the 2010-2011 school year shows that the highest number of incidents occurred at the following school complexes: Campbell on Oahu, Hilo and Kealakehe on the Big Island, and Maui.
The campaign will focus on enforcing , a set of rules defining — and setting out punishment for — harassment, bullying and other misconduct. The campaign will also focus on interventions and counseling for students.
Horner told his fellow board members that he thought the campaign would be a good investment. There’ a direct correlation to student achievement, he said.
Students from Waianae High School’s Searider Productions made the public service videos, which feature UH athletes speaking out against bullying.
Introducing one of the high school students at the morning press conference, Abercrombie cracked a joke: “And I do confess to the fact that I am looking to get other short guys up here.” (The student was almost his height.)
“Speaking with respect,” he added, drawing chuckles from his staff.
Matayoshi said she believes Hawaii’s schools have a long way to go to stop bullying.
“I think there are pockets of excellence in the state that we can highlight,” she said. “But having pockets of excellence doesn’t help kids who are not in the pockets.”
Daniel Morrison, a Waianae senior who managed the video’s sound production, has worked on videos about cyber-bullying and Internet safety for Searider. He said he took a message away from his newest project
“Doing this video just helped me to see how you can hurt people in just the smallest ways,” he said.
Here’s one of the videos:
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