Wear and Share your Orange for Unity Day 2020
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – Every October, individuals from across the nation—and around the world—unite with the powerful message that bullying should never be a part of childhood. Unity Day falls on October 21, 2020. October is also Bullying Prevention Month.
We want you to show us how you are wearing or sharing orange today in our community. Click here to submit your photos and stand united with our community against bullying.
In a year when kids are already struggling with a pandemic, the year 2020 holds extra weight on every shoulder when it comes to bullying prevention efforts.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.
Simply wearing orange isn’t enough to end bullying, but it is a way to show solidarity. Other ways to take action and challenge bullying head-on, suggested by the leading national anti-bullying and cyberbullying organization for kids and teens in the U.S., Stomp Out Bullying are listed below.
Make friends with someone you don’t know at school
If you’ve ever been isolated from others at school or you were new at school and it took time to make friends, you know what it feels like to be left out. Or even if you were never isolated, imagine how it would feel. Be a leader. Take action and don’t let anyone at school be in isolation.
Challenge Others To Be Kind
Make kindness go viral with an act of kindness and challenge friends and classmates to pay it forward with their acts of kindness. Make a video of everyone doing acts of kindness and submit it. We’ll add it to our website.
STAND UP for Others
When you see someone being bullied, be brave and STAND UP for them. Bullies have been known to back off when others stand up for victims. If you don’t feel safe get the help of an adult immediately. Be part of the solution — not the problem!
Practice Inclusion
Don’t let anyone at school eat alone in the cafeteria or on a school field trip.
Include other students in school activities
Invite someone you don’t now that well to sit next to you on the bus. Learn about each other.
Use the hashtag #HereForYou on social media to let your classmates know that they have your support and a person to reach out to if they ever need to talk.
Start Conversations Amongst Your Peers
Meet with fellow students and discuss how you can Change The Culture at your school.
Hold a discussion in your classroom where you allow students to openly speak and discuss their experiences with bullying and cyberbullying, and how these experiences have effected them and how they dealt with these moments.
This is your month to take leadership at your school and carry it through all-year-round!
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