Palmer High School students create anti-bullying video
9 May
Palmer – Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon – Palmer High School guidance counselor Frederick G. Dileone, right, and students who worked on anti-bullying video from left: Nicole C. Prosperi, Troy R. Remillard, Grant E. Farr, Joseph H. Roberts and Lily G. Ghrear.
PALMER – “If it’s mean, intervene.”
That’s the title and the key message of the latest anti-bullying video produced by a group from Palmer High School’s “Students as Technology Leaders” class with help from guidance counselor Frederick C. Dileone.
With more than 100 hits so far on YouTube, the students hope their message continues to spread, and that their video will encourage other teens to take a stand against bullying.
“The more people that see this, the better,” said sophomore Joseph H. Roberts.
Sophomore Grant E. Farr, freshmen Lily G. Ghrear and Troy R. Remillard, and junior Nicole Prosperi also worked on the three-month project, using a Flip video and still cameras to film life at Palmer High. Troy and Nicole were the actors in the 4-minute video, enduring staged “bullying” by their peers.
Acting was something new for Troy, but not Nicole, who is active in drama. The scenes depict what a bullying victim could experience – a garbage-filled locker, isolation in the cafeteria, hair pulling, a nasty text message, being thrown up against a wall.
The students said it was time consuming to piece together the footage, but Dileone said Joseph, who also was involved in last year’s video, “Bullying is a Worldwide Problem,” proved to be indispensable with his computer skills.
Word about the video is spreading in the Palmer High community, and Dileone hopes it will be shown to students in seventh- through ninth- grades. The younger grades typically have the most problems with bullying, he said, although the students agreed that they don’t think Palmer has as many issues with bullying as other school districts.
The district started the anti-bullying initiative before the death of Phoebe Prince in South Hadley. The freshman from Ireland hanged herself last year after intense bullying by a group of students, who were charged in connection with tormenting her. Their cases were resolved last week in court proceedings in Hampshire County.
Dileone said the Palmer High videos are part of superintendent Gerald A. Fournier’s commitment to anti-bullying efforts in the district. These efforts helped the district receive a grant for security cameras at the high school. They should be in place for next school year.
The first video highlighted the back stairwell, with ominous shots of it, where bullying was said to occur by the students. That will be one of the places the security cameras will be installed.
While the first video focused on the definitions of bullying, this video focused on the responsibility of the bystander, Dileone said. “We tried a different approach,” he said.
Lily said working on the project was a lot of fun, and that she learned a lot in the process. Dileone said they used statistics from the 2009 I-Safe Foundation about bullying, such as: 20 percent have been made fun of, 6 percent were threatened with violence, 4 percent had items stolen, 160,000 students miss school daily because of bullying, and 18 percent have had rumors spread about them.
The statistics are interspersed with scenes from Palmer High – Nicole cornered in the rest room, Troy being threatened with a volleyball.
The eighth-grade poster contest winners also were highlighted in the video. They included: Marilyn Mahan’s “No bulls, just peas!,” showing peas in a peace sign; Julia Waite’s “Why bully when you can be friends” showing a handshake; and Larissa Giard’s “Bullies are animals,” depicting a bull. They all received amazon.com gift certificates.
Viewers are told who they can turn to if they are being bullied – friends, teachers, staff, parents, guidance counselors, nurses.
And, it ends with the message: “How can you help someone today? Don’t be a bystander, intervene.”
Said Dileone, “It may not be seen by some students as a popular role to assume when responding to bullying, but Palmer High School is committed to changing that thought process.”
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/palmer_high_school_students_cr.html
