Indiana legislation now requires all public schools to educate their students with age-appropriate methods about bullying. In conjunction with this legislation, Hamilton Southeastern High School hosted a convocation featuring the 2013 ASA tour on Oct. 2 in the football stadium. The tour is an interactive action sports circuit that visits cities across the United States supporting the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the PACER’S National Bullying Prevention Center.
ASA brought in five of the world’s top professional skateboarders and BMX riders from the X Games to perform on a state-of-the-art half-pipe, while an emcee delivered an educational message in a fun, positive and interactive fashion.
“The idea raises awareness of what bullying is and helped kids understand it better,” said HSE High School Assistant Principal Charles Hoover.
Bullying is a significant problem in schools today, as evidenced by current statistics:
- § Fifty-six percent of students have personally witnessed some type of bullying at school.
- § One out of 10 students who drop out of school do so because of repeated bullying.
- § American schools harbor 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million victims.
- § 282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
- § Each day 160,00 students miss school for fear of being bullied.
- § Nearly 4,500 students commit suicide each year because of bullying.
- § Through the course of one year, 25 percent of students across all grades report that they have been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
“When I was a kid, bullying was face to face,” Hoover said. “Now I can bully you and not even see you.”
HSE High School plans to add more resources to raise awareness of bullying, including monthly announcements produced by students and topics chosen by teachers for their classrooms, according to Hoover.