Students heading back to Vista Ridge High School Jan. 17 after a three-day weekend were met with an unfamiliar display of something all too familiar.
In the display case normally reserved for trophies and other school accolades, students saw a fellow student sitting in the display, his head down and hands crossed above his knees. A large picture behind him showed images of students making hateful remarks. Another display showed a series of comment posts on a social network site ridiculing a girl. Other displays showed hurtful comments collected by students who had heard them in class or on campus.
The displays did not to censor the student’s language. What students saw walking to class that day was what other students had heard before, some of them regularly. Karen Lousma, a VRHS teacher and organizer of the student-made displays, said it was important to show the true ugliness of bullying.
“So much of the stuff, even the word ‘bully’ … it reminds me of that kid on ‘The Simpsons,’” she said. “It makes it seem childish, and so much of what is going on is not.”
Lousma and about 60 VRHS students participated in creating the display, which led to the school receiving a No Place for Hate designation by the Anti-Defamation League. The designation is given to schools that take a proactive effort through activities and programs to respect student diversity. Lousma said the group pulled in school staff, special needs students and others to help in what can be a complicated issue to tackle.
“I’m in my mid-40s, and I think a lot of people my age have the mentality of ‘kids will be kids,’” she said. “But kids, they don’t have the skills yet to deal with that mass onslaught that it can be with the Internet. They can’t escape it. They’re so plugged in that it’s 24 hours.”
Lousma said the group’s efforts were about fighting a mindset of taking bullying seriously, from students to staff to faculty.
“We’re talking about real harassment, when a kid has to find a different route to the cafeteria because he’s afraid of being punched by another kid,” she said.
Lousma said the idea to have living statues representing acts of bullying came in part from one of her students joking about hiding in the display case. She received approval from VRHS Principal Paul Johnson to have students create the display and hold a flashmob later that same day in the cafeteria.
“I wanted it to be about awareness more than anything,” she said. “I think people should be treated with dignity.”

A parallel to kindness

Emily Roberts, a senior at Leander High School, said her involvement in stopping bullying was twofold.
“It was just something not only for my personal interest, but to help others, especially on the lower levels in elementary and middle schools,” she said.
Roberts is part of “C-squared,” or Coalition of Clubs, which began in May 2010. Its purpose is to promote a culture of kindness and address what Roberts and other students consider to be the biggest issue in schools today.
LHS Assistant Principal Christine Simpson invited members of different school clubs to a meeting to discuss what issues affected them. Bullying rose to the top of that list.
“So how do we stop that?” Simpson asked. “And from these nine kids from this dialogue, this club evolved.”
One of the club’s first actions was to order yellow T-shirts with large smiley faces printed on the front. When students wore them, Roberts said, it encouraged other students to inquire and learn more about the anti-bullying message.
“Now it’s at a point that everybody knows what C-squared is and we’re having to buy more shirts,” she said.
About 200 students belong to the club, which Simpson said is beyond any participation she imagined.
“I never expected it to go that way. It’s been hard to launch at the high school level for a long time,” she said.
Club members continuously brainstorm on ways to embrace diversity at school. During a Week of Kindness, students were asked to make new friends and give compliments to each other. One forum allowed discussion on students’ varying backgrounds. The club continues to plan new activities throughout the school year.
Simpson said she soon realized the club had similarities to the No Place for Hate initiative, which LHS received Jan. 11.
“It kind of happened as a parallel for us, and in the process we were able to grow the club,” she said.
Roberts said she has seen the club have an effect on her and other students. With its membership growing, she said it is common for her to walk down the halls at school and see a familiar face.
“It brings me back and keeps me on the level. I can relax and know that I have friends and all these things to look forward to,” she said. “It gives you a more positive outlook on life.”
Simpson gave credit forthe club’s success to the students who embraced the idea and made it their own. She said a student put it succinctly to her by saying, “Why would you go to a dentist to fix a car?”
“I think it’s why it works and why it’s spread so much,” she said. “They live it day in and day out.”