MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- Students and teachers at a school in Middletown are leading the way in teaching others about bullying and how to prevent it.
The Middletown YMCA is a partner in the Gaudet Middle School Character Development Initiative. It's sponsored by the Women's Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties.
Students learn to help each other through difficult tasks, like pole climbing and balancing on cables, to resolve problems without resorting to conflict and violence.
Four Gaudet students are student advisers on bullying.
Beth Larcom said girls are just as guilty of bullying as the boys are and that bullying often starts with gossip.
"I'll tell my friends, I'll hear a rumor and if you get a rumor you don't want to spread it on. I try to tell people if they do hear a rumor, I'll try to tell them it's not true," Larcom said.
Liam Geer was the victim of bullying in school, but his training taught him an important lesson.
"When you get bullied, don't fight back. Just ignore it and tell an adult that's near you," Geer said.
Claire Doirey teaches fellow students this bit of philosophy.
"Bullying is a real horrible thing. I don't want anybody I know or even anyone I don't know go and hurt somebody else," Doirey said.
And Colton Boesch teaches students not to be afraid to stand up against bullying.
"I stand up for the kids. I tell whoever's doing it not to do it. I tell the kid who's bullying, whoever he's bullying, just go somewhere else," Boesch said.
Shyleene O'Connor is one of 10 Gaudet teachers helping in the anti-bullying program.
"Everybody deserves to be treated with respect. Everybody deserves to have a safe place to live," O'Connor said.
This unique program is funded by a grant to the Women's Resource Center of Newport and Bristol Counties, and it seems to be very effective.
"We are trying to decrease bullying in school. We've chosen to take a strength-based approach," said the center's Jessica Walsh.
Through strength of character and learning to help each other, these Gaudet students are making a difference by helping fellow students learn that bullying is simply unacceptable for any reason.
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