Students 'Take A Stand'

Whitefish Middle School principal Kerry

Drown and assistant principal Josh Branstetter wear green and

yellow bracelets on their wrists.

Sure, they have school pride. But

there’s another more important reason they wear the bracelets:

They’re taking a stand against bullying.

Last week they stood before students in

the auditorium and asked them to join by taking a pledge against

bullying and wearing the bracelets, which read “Take A Stand.”

Drown told students he looks at the

bracelet every day.

“It reminds me that I’m out to bat for

every single one of you,” he said. “We believe in you.”

Branstetter challenged students.

“We’re going to take a stand. We want

you to take a stand with us,” he said. “If you’re willing to make a

commitment we’re willing to teach you how to take a stand. The end

of bullying begins with you.”

They reminded students that bullying is

a serious thing. That it’s “child abuse by children,” they

said.

They pointed out that bullying comes in

many different forms. That it’s face-to-face and behind the back.

It can come in pictures and text messages. It’s intimidation and a

sense of exclusion.

“We used to thinking of bullying as

‘Give me your lunch money,’” Branstetter said. “We’re beyond

that.”

They told students they hold the power.

To not be an audience for a bully. To walk away from a bully. To

report a bully.

They showed a video of a kid standing

on the playground. A larger kid pulls at his shirt and makes fun of

him. Soon a crowd forms and starts chanting, “Fight. Fight. Fight.”

Then out of the crowd one kid moves to sand beside the one being

bullied. Then another joins them. Soon the bully leaves.

“We’re going to work on this all year

long and empower the people,” Drown told students. “All it took was

one to step forward and another did. It takes courage to take the

first step.”

Drown and Branstetter ended the

assembly by asking students to join in a pledge to “Take A Stand.”

They asked students to sign the pledge against bullying and in

return the students would get their own bracelet.

Later at lunch, Drown and Branstetter

shook hands with students and handed bracelets to those who signed

the pledge.