With every staff development day comes a Supporting Teens At Risk (STAR) meeting in the Theatre during two class hours. The Sept. 12 topic was bullying.
Bullying in high school is a very touchy subject despite the fact it’s around students every second of every passing period, every lunch hour, every class period, every football game, every team practice, every weekend out with friends.
Whether you are the bully or have been the bullied, bullying has made an impact in your life, and I bet it wasn’t for the positive.
The STAR meeting took a look at bullying head on, starting with a panel of six students sharing their own individual stories, ending with the famous performer Joe Elvis and his personal story.
The panel started with Shamara Wilson, senior, in her case being the one who got bullied. Being surrounded by “white girls” since 3rd Grade, Shamara didn’t know any different but to act how they were acting.
One day she said she sat with these girls at lunch and then she was no longer accepted to sit with her “black friends” any more. Her own family told her she needed to start acting like a black girl again. But Wilson pushed through saying, “People will always have something to say.”
While Wilson was talking, you could hear her voice quiver and tears slipped out of her eyes.
Next up was Keith Smith, senior, telling his story about being the ‘fat kid.’ Although the jokes said about his size seemed harmless, he said they were scarring and rude.
After Smith was Bryan Ebner, senior. Ebner has been bullied for being “weird” and “different.”
On the panel next was Laynie Henning, senior. Henning has been bullied for her ethnicity and height.
In her speech, Henning said, “Tell me something I don’t know, tell me something to make my day.” After her personal story boys and girls in the audience shouted out “We love you!” and “You’re beautiful!”
On the contrary of those who were getting bullied, next up was Tranesha Cooks, senior. She was telling her story of being the bully.
Her story was touching and moving; she even started to cry herself while on stage. She told the audience she was done bullying after her friend committed suicide from getting bullied by others.
Cooks said, “It’s not even worth it. It’s just high school guys.”
Last up on the student panel was junioe Coda Riebold, whose older sister has Asperger’s disorder.
Riebold said, “It broke my heart,” when talking about watching her older sister get pushed around and made fun of.
With the touching stories of the student panel complete and the audience members already moved to tears, on more than one occasion, it was now Joe Elvis’s turn.
Joe Elvis is an amazing performer who has performed for Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyonce and even the King and Queen of Spain.
So why would a man like him be bullied? Simple. He was a performer, andhe said that in itself was enough to give his family and classmates a reason to “punish” him.
Growing up in the Bronx was difficult enough. When fellow classmates found out he was rehearsing for Broadway they beat him into the hospital, where family said he “deserved it.”
Elvis said, “I started to believe I was no one.”
He danced so he could be somebody else for the two hours a day he practiced, and as you can, see it paid off.
Although Elvis is now a pastor and his bully is now his best friend, this time in his life was truly trying, leading him to attempt suicide on two occasions.
Elvis said, “You’ve gotta respect every individual for who and what they are.”
Along with his story, Elvis educated everyone in attendance on the unbelievable statistics for teen deaths relating to bullying, including in the one hour that the STAR meeting was taking place at least 12 students have taken their lives in our nation.
The meeting ended with a thunderous applause. Last year I attended quite a few of these meetings and I have to say not a single one had the crowd in such a wide range of emotions.
I would be lying if I didn’t mention that I was moved to almost the point of tears with the various stories and statistics.
