Kendall Johnson

With the threat of bullying within United States school systems continuing to increase in
seriousness and its detrimental effects on the physical and mental health of students, Seminar H
sought to create change within local schools in Fulton, Missouri. Through raising awareness and
presenting ways to prevent bullying within schools, anti-bullying movement sentiment was
employed and advocated for throughout this group project.
Bullying is a present threat in all school systems across the United States. 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, as
defined by stopbullying.org. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly a
third of all students aged 12 - 18 reported having been bullied at school in 2007. However, only
20-30 percent of bullying victims report their bullying to adults. In response to these alarming
statistics, many groups and organizations around the country work to contribute towards the anitbullying movement.
Today, 49 states have passed anti-bullying legislation and policies. As of 2007, Missouris
anti-bullying policy states:

1. Every district shall adopt an antibullying policy by September 1,

2007.
2. "Bullying" means intimidation or harassment that causes a
reasonable student to fear for his or her physical safety or property.
Bullying may consist of physical actions, including gestures, or

Kendall Johnson
oral, cyberbullying, electronic, or written communication, and any
threat of retaliation for reporting of such acts.
3. Each district's anti-bullying policy shall be founded on the
assumption that all students need a safe learning environment.
Policies shall treat students equally and shall not contain specific
lists of protected classes of students who are to receive special
treatment. Policies may include age appropriate differences for
schools based on the grade levels at the school. Each such policy
shall contain a statement of the consequences of bullying.
4. Each district's anti-bullying policy shall require district
employees to report any instance of bullying of which the
employee has firsthand knowledge. The district policy shall
address training of employees in the requirements of the district
policy.

All schools that receive federal funding are required by state law to address
discrimination within the school. Many states have implemented policies regarding bullying in
effort to battle the harmful effects bullying has on the physical and mental health of children,
According to the Suicide Awareness Voices for Education, suicides among 15-24 years
olds is the third leading cause of death for youth. One of 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit
suicide every year. Over 16% of students seriously consider suicide, 13% create a plan, and 8
percent have made a serious attempt (nobullying). The movement against bullying resulted in

Kendall Johnson
response to alarming statistics like these and advocated for actions within schools to prevent
these numbers from increasing, and with hopes to decrease these numbers and promote a safe,
healthy environment in schools.
Today, about 35.7 percent of elementary school are required by the school district to
teach suicide prevention, 61.5percent of middle schools, and 75.0 percent of high schools. About
78.4 percent of school districts required schools to have a plan for students at risk for suicide
(nobullying). As well as raising awareness, the primary goal of the anti-bullying movement is to
stop bullying before it happens. The secondary goal of this movement is to stop bullying after it
has started and to relieve the bullied of uneasiness and embarrassment (nobullying). The overall
goal of groups and organizations contributing to the anti-bullying movement is to convince
lawmakers to implement federal legislation to help prevent and punish bullying within schools.
With the omnipresent reality of school bullying posing serious threats to the physical and
mental health of children and young adults, my seminar group project focused on raising
awareness of bullying at the Fulton Middle School. Considering the importance of the impact
bullying has on middle-school-aged children revealed through multiple studies and statistics, this
location provided the perfect audience for anti-bullying awareness.
After further research was conducted regarding the anti-bullying movement was gathered
and shocking statistics were discovered, it became evident how important this movements
message and goals are in society. Learning that no one is immune to the effects of bullying and
possibly knowing a victim of bullying or a someone prone to being bullied, especially inspired
me to educate children to the dangers bullying entails.

Kendall Johnson
Though our primary short-term goal was to spread awareness of the signs and effects of
bullying, we also hoped to present simple ways one can help prevent bullying. Through the
information we were to present, we desired to achieve the long-term goal of decreasing instances
of bullying within Fulton Middle School and possibly increasing safety within the school system
regarding those bullied.
In order to achieve these goals, my group strategy was to create a presentation containing
statistics, information and tips on bullying and how to prevent it. As some members compiled
resources for our presentation such as useful websites, suicide hotlines, and further information
regarding the effects of bullying, other members attempted to contact Fulton Middle School to
arrange a date and time to give our presentation. However, upon leaving the school multiple
messages explaining our project and goals regarding anti-bullying, my group never received a
call back from the school, bringing developments in our project to a halt.
Due to our social location as unemployed, first-year students at Westminster College, our
attempts at contacting the power-holder of the school, specifically the principal, only went as far
as phone calls. Being young adults, it is often difficult to acquire the attention and respect our
ideas and actions deserve. This is evident in my groups project targeting the local middle school
and the students within it. It can be assumed that our calls and messages were dismissed by
faculty and administration at Fulton Middle School due to our label as freshmen at Westminster
seeking access to the school and students to offer a presentation to satisfy a class project.
As our efforts in communicating with Fulton Middle School proved futile, our group
project was, unfortunately, unsuccessful. Our message regarding bullying and our presentation
meant to spread awareness did not reach the students at the middle school, therefore we could
not achieve our goals.

Kendall Johnson
Without communication with those in power at the school, we were unable to complete
our plans. Though this was a large contributor to the lack of success of our project, I believe my
group could have employed different tactics in order to achieve our goal. For example, as a
group, we could have used different techniques in communicating with the school. Though we
called and left messages with no response from the school, we could have tried to email people
in power in the school or simply visited the school and presented our project ambitions and
purpose in person. I believe that speaking with someone face-to-face would have greatly
increased our credibility with the school and could have possibly resulted in a successful end to
our project. However, if these tactics still failed, it is possible that we could have reached out to
other schools in the area. The message we wished to spread would have been beneficial in any
school we chose to present at.
Though my group did not succeed, I still feel that I have benefitted from the experience
of this project. Throughout the semester, during seminar, we learned the components of both
successful and unsuccessful movements. However, now that I have actual experience of
organizing a movement, I have a better understanding of the causes of unsuccessful outcomes,
and how to alter them to be more successful in the future. As I researched the anti-bullying
movement and more information on bulling in the United States, I became increasingly
interested and eager in presenting to the middle school we were assigned. Passion and interest
alone do not result in successful movements, however. Organization, proper planning, and
effective tactics are all important and needed for a successful movement. Though our movement
was important and could be related to by many people, it did not employ these requirements
effectively, resulting in the downfall of our project.

Kendall Johnson
"Bullying Definition." Help Prevent Bulling. U.S. Department of Human Health &
Services, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-isbullying/definition/index.html>.
"Missouri- HOUSE BILL NO. 1543." Missouri. Watch-Dog Organization, n.d. Web. 19
Nov. 2014. <http://www.bullypolice.org/mo_law.html>.
"The Movement Against Bullying." No Bullying Expert Advice On Cyber Bullying
School Bullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://nobullying.com/>.
"School Bullying." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/school-bullying.html>.