Schools

Teen Bullying: How One School District Is Solving The Problem

How do school districts help students navigate teen challenges such as bullying? Greendale is getting students together - and it's working.

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A group of 75 students at Greendale High School are leading the charge. Here's how:
A group of 75 students at Greendale High School are leading the charge. Here's how: (Scott Anderson, Patch Staff )

GREENDALE, WI — It’s fourth-hour at Greendale High School, and Keegan Kapocious, Paris Wooden and Max Miller are among the 75 or so students who filter into the school gymnasium on an otherwise overcast and chilly October morning.

The three students have different backgrounds, different interests and different social circles: Kapocious is a 17-year-old junior who plays on the school football team. Wooden is a 15-year-old sophomore who’s a percussionist in several school bands. Miller is a 17-year-old senior and an aspiring artist in addition to supporting the LGBT community.

They, and the other students in attendance this morning were hand-picked by Greendale staff to participate in Sources of Strength: a national project designed to harness students’ social networks to transform school culture for the better.

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"No one ever reached out to me as a freshman," Miller said. "We can easily reach out to anyone we see, and they know they can trust us.

The Greendale School District, like many across Wisconsin, is trying to untangle the menace of bullying and the public health crises that their adolescent population faces. While the program is tech-savvy for teens, it’s basic formula is simple: get students of all backgrounds together in a safe environment, make them interact with one another, and support their effort to work on a group project they can roll out to other students.

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The students are hand-picked by school staff for their ability to influence and lead social networks. Once they've been identified, they're invited to participate.

Greendale students listen as their group works out presentation ideas.

Social worker Trisha Kilpin runs the program that’s now in its second year. “We have seen benefits since our rollout of the program in February 2019,” she told Patch. “The notion of using our strengths to get through difficult times has started to be infused in our school culture.”

For these students, fourth hour begins with a warm-up exercise. There’s running, chaos and plenty of laughter as Kilpin leads the 75 students in rapid-shifting group exercises involving three, four or five students. If a student can’t find the required number of buddies to pair up with in the pantomimes, skits or re-enactments, they have to go to the sidelines.

One by one, students filter their way to the sidelines until the group of 75 is whittled down to two. “We’re getting kids to pair up with different people, while also demonstrating how everyone can be left out,” she said.

Trisha Kilpin leads October's Sources of Strength session.

Building A Campaign

After their warm-up, the students — called peer leaders — break into separate groups to work out the details of this year’s campaign: We Belong. The groups, consisting of between five to 15 students, are preparing to roll out a socially-inclusive programs to fellow high school students and to younger students at the district’s three middle schools.

"I think it's more positive, like a big sister/big brother role," Wooden said. "If you're starting it early, it's easy to build up positive environment."

The gym is host to a marketing engine of sorts, as students figure out how to design flyers and banners - and where to hang them. A social media group taps away at their smartphones as they create social media posts that are sent out across their respective social circles. Another group rifles through presentation concepts and drafts a list of talking points.

The idea, Kilpin said, is to create a sense of belonging across the entire high school population, while also starting to make inroads in the middle and elementary schools.

"It's fun having people around you've never talked to. You feel like you belong," Kapocius said.

Greendale High School students map out their progress on this year's campaign.

What Have You Learned?

Greendale Patch sat down with Keegan Kapocius, Paris Wooden and Max Miller to find out why the Sources of Strength program mattered to them, and what wisdom they’ve earned as a high school student.

Q: What challenges have you faced in high school?

Kapocius: The beginning years were kind of hard, you're in the freshman stuff, and the varsity guys were scary. The upperclassmen really made me feel like I belonged. Now it's my turn.

Wooden: Freshman year I did a lot of things. Now that I’m in my sophomore year, I’m making different choices. I know what to do to feel more comfortable. Nothing really scares me.

Miller: My first two years were horrifying, I am not going to lie. I felt lost at the time. In my junior year, I started to hit my stride, and senior year has been easy. I feel really calm, and not stuck in a loop.

Q: How have you helped others?

Kapocius: I’m kind of vocal, so I feel I can talk to others. Sometimes bystanding is not the greatest thing.

Wooden: I always let them know I'm here to listen to them. My mom always tells me to be the light, because there's a lot of darkness. Kindness matters.

Miller: I'm just really open about myself and the experiences I’ve had.

Greendale's Sources of Strength campaign focuses on reaching out and being inclusive.

The Menace Of Bullies: Patch Advocacy Reporting Project

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying and a child's unthinkable decision to end their own life in hopes we might offer solutions that save lives.

Selected Stories From The Project

From No Bully, Patch News Partner

From The Experts

What We've Learned

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