By Marlee Breakstone

The state of Connecticut recently amended a piece of legislation that further helped to prevent bullying and other similar activities in schools. This law is designed to keep children and students in Connecticut safe from harassment. Each school in the state is creating its own plan to interpret and put into action the newly amended law. By July first, Pomperaug will put into action its newly formed school climate plan. This plan is currently in the process of being designed by a school climate plan committee. Since bullying and harassment are not currently a huge issue at Pomperaug, this new plan will focus more on creating a positive environment within the school.

The Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group, developed the “Names Can Really Hurt Us” program, which will be brought to Pomperaug later this winter. This program has been implemented in schools across the nation, and after Mrs. Rodrigue found it to be highly successful in one of the previous districts she worked for, she decided to bring it to PHS. The program mostly involves members of the sophomore class. The school selects the sophomores that participate in this program. Twenty to forty juniors and numerous faculty members also participate. Each member of this program attends a seminar where they are taught about various topics such as tolerance and acceptance. The hope is that the sophomores will spread the knowledge that they gained through this program with students of other grade levels. This way, the entire student body will indirectly benefit from it. The training for staff and selected juniors will occur on February 21 and 27, while the assembly and break out sessions for sophomores are planned for March 20.

This assembly includes an open-mic portion. During this part of the assembly, students are permitted to stand up and say anything that they would like to the group, assuming that it pertains to the topic of discussion. Students may choose to talk about a time when they were bullied and harassed in the hopes that it would both encourage others to lend them advice and allow them to see just how large of an effect one cruel action can have on another person. Likewise, students may also take this time to confess that they themselves once bullied or harassed a classmate. By coming clean these students are hoping to reach closure and also gain forgiveness. “This encourages young people to talk about their experiences and build empathy for the kinds of intolerances, biases, and hostile environments that impact us all,” Mrs. Rodrigue says. In addition to the assembly, students will be split into smaller groups for parts of the program.

Through this “Names Can Really Hurt Us” program, the students will learn about sympathy and empathy. Seeing how bullying affects other students will give them perspective on the situation and will allow them to see that things that they may perceive as being “not a big deal” can have a huge effect on others. Mrs. Rodrigue believes that it is “very important for students to learn about the implications of their actions.” She believes that students at Pomperaug High School will surely benefit from this “Names Can Really Hurt Us” program. “I think we have a great school community already,” she says, “and I want it to be even better!”