Elementary students create “upstander” club
Students of Elm Grove Elementary school in Bossier City, LA created an anti-bullying club with the motto “Be an upstander not a bystander.”
A dozen students who have felt the effects of bullying meet twice a month in Robin Webb’s 5th grade class to learn how to stand up against bullying, according to KSLA News.
“It helps me know that I have other members that will help me if I’m being bullied,” 9-year-old Mathew told KSLA News.
Webb started the club because her son, Orrin, who is now a soldier, had been bullied as a child.
news
Stanford Social Innovation Review interviewed Not in Our Town executive producer Patrice O'Neill for their Fall 2010 article, "What's Next: Drowning Out Hate." The article traces community-building origins in Billings, Mont. to our coverage of upbeat counter-rallies in West Virginia.
Contributing editor Suzie Boss also spoke with Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project director Mark Potok. By featuring citizens fighting against intolerance, The Not in Our Town website, Potok said, "has made this into a national idea." He elaborates:
"Communities can see how to use these events to create discussions that would never occur otherwise," he adds. The Billings story stands out, he adds, “as one of the most brilliant, homegrown responses to hate this country has ever seen."
Find the story here.
Related Content: