By Courtney McEachern

For Governor Mifflin Middle School students, Friday, Sept. 11 was just another day of school. But on that morning, the students were surprised to learn, over the morning announcements, that classes were cancelled and that the faculty planned a class-free fun day of activities geared toward educating the students on a school-related topic - bullying prevention.

Bullying prevention activities included a message from Shillington Police of Chief, T. Corey Yochimowitz, participating in a cyber bullying program and .learning about bullying through the musical talents of the Traveling America’s Musical Highways’ John Hain and Bob Szajna. The one-hour performance took popular songs, such as the Black Eye Peas’ “Where is the Love,” and geared them toward bullying.

The Governor Mifflin School District recently adopted a policy about addressing bullying. According to a press release prepared by the school district, the Pennsylvania Department of Education mandated that all public schools adopt a bullying policy.

Last year, the middle school students were surveyed about the topic. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program survey included questions such as “I was hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked indoors.” Kathleen Seltzer, Health teacher, was surprised at the results especially that some of the bullying was happening in the classroom while the teachers’ backs were turned toward the blackboard.

Last term the school received a grant that allowed Olweus to educate and train the staff about how to deal with bullying. With the information to successfully address the topic, the school formed the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee. “I was surprised at the number of kids that didn’t tell anyone [that they were being bullied],” said Seltzer, who is a member of the committee.

Friday kicked off the anti-bullying campaign, which will be implemented all year long. Although the state-wide mandate only says that every public school needs to have a bullying policy in place, the school is taking it one step further. One day per cycle, the students will return to their classroom and discuss issues related to bullying, said Stacey Bottiglieri, member of the committee and Learning Support teacher.

The teachers have been equipped with a booklet that includes an outline about what to talk about during the meetings. At the first class meeting, the teachers explained the purpose of the meetings, discussed the benefits and the ground rules of the meetings, introduced the topic of bullying and talked about the school’s bullying prevention program. “We hope the class meetings open up the students to other issues,” said Bottiglieri.