Local Glendale students attended the second annual TranscEND Bullying Forum at Maple Park last Friday, which provided students with the tools and strategies needed to deal with bullying at school. It was sponsored by the city, the Glendale Unified School District and local group Community Action Against Bullying. School Resource Officer and keynote speaker Marilyn Cisneros spoke to kids about her own experiences with bullying when she was a child.

 “I’m here to tell you that the bullying can stop with each and every one of you,” said Cisneros.

Problems with bullying continue to rise in schools all across the nation. Many students at the TranscEND Bullying Forum admitted they had been bullied at one time. Organizations such as the Community Action Against Bullying make it their mission to educate others about the damages of bullying.

“We don’t want another Columbine occurring,” said Marilyn Gunnelle, co-founder of Community Action Against Bullying. “The only way to prevent things like that is education.”

The National Education Association reports 1.6 million kids from 6^th grade through 10^th grade are bullied at least once a week. That’s why the NEA continues to address the issue and provide effective strategies. According to their website, these strategies are meant to:

• Reduce and eliminate bullying and harassment
• Expand access to counseling, anger management and peer mediation
• Provide ways for students to communicate with adults about rumors and threats
• Develop instruction that teaches values like respect and responsibility, and expand opportunities for kids to work with adult role models in after-school education and recreation programs.

Glendale’s Community Action Against Bullying worked with those same strategies through the TranscEND Bullying Forum. Students at the forum told Glendale News Press that bullying doesn’t have to mean physical violence. Other forms, such as teasing or gossiping, can be upsetting as well. Glendale News Press also reports, “National statistics show that student bullies have a 25% chance of having a criminal record by the age of 30. And repeat victims are much more likely to experience depression or fear of going to school.”

The statistics are disappointing, but the good news is issue is being addressed by groups like the NEA and CAAB. If more communities and schools work together to create educational programs such as TransEND, we may finally see bullying statistics start to drop.

Photo Courtesy of Community Action Against Bullying.

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