B.J. Ward Fifth Graders Take Bullying Seriously

For fifth graders at Bolingbrook’s , bullying is a serious issue.

And students are being proactive about reducing the nationwide problem by taking a close look at ways to prevent it, according to a press release from spokesman Larry Randa.

“Bullying is a serious issue and our fifth grade team asked, 'What are we doing to protect our students?'” said fifth-grade parapro Kaylee Lawrence.

The answer, they found, was an anti-bullying teaching unit using resources from Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center.

“We learned that if you see someone bullying, you have to go to a teacher or a parent or some other adult,” said student Cheyenne Smith.

“And we learned people go on the Internet and talk to you and start bullying you,” added student Saul Martinez.

“Bullying is mean,” Smith said. “People don’t have to hurt people.”

Lawrence said students, most of whom said they had been bullied at one time or another in their lives, “were interested and engaged in” all the different activities in the bullying unit.

All of them took a pledge to be “kids against bullying.”

As a culmination to the activities, each student was asked to create an anti-bullying poster.

The posters are now on display on a bulletin board in the B.J. Ward lunch area.