Be THE Voice
Anti-Bullying: Students at Conley Hills Elementary take part in the Be THE Voice program
Debbie Cwalina grew up with a brother who was developmentally delayed. “He was so isolated, one of those kids who sat alone in the cafeteria,” she recalls. “So I changed my schedule so I could sit with him, and I invited other friends, and soon he had a rotating cast of friends. It taught me that one small gesture of inclusion can change the trajectory of someone’s life.”
With that lesson in mind, Cwalina, who is a member of the Roswell Rotary Club, and fellow Rotarian Michael Schoppenhorst launched an anti-bullying initiative in 2014 that became Be THE Voice (BTV). The program revolves around simple videos shown schoolwide of students candidly sharing their experiences with bullying. The videos are short enough not to interfere with curricula or require extra staff training. Each video ends with a call to action to make a positive difference in someone’s life.
“Designed around research that highlighted the efficacy of bystander involvement, we teach nonconfrontational methods,” Cwalina says. “Kids are so sensitive about being viewed as tattletales, and we don’t recommend leaping in and ‘standing up’ to the bully because then that student might become another victim of the bully. What we teach is how to bypass the bully and show compassion and empathy to the person who is bullied.”
Cwalina says BTV will be in 100 schools in the fall, and it has impacted more than 300,000 students and staff statewide. “Our messaging resonates beyond the classroom and into the communities in which we serve,” she says. To stimulate further dialogue, BTV provides post-video discussion points in its elementary and middle school programs, inviting students to express their views on the weekly video themes. Surveys bear out the program’s effectiveness.
“Research of the Fulton County schools found a 95% decrease in bullying in elementary schools, a 77% decrease in middle schools and a 91% decrease in high school,” she says. “Teachers report that they have more time to teach because the bad behavior is down.”
