Wear orange and take a stand against bullying

by Jolene Toves

Guam - Bullying: it's a parents fear and a child's nightmare with the potential of turning a once productive and happy child into a withdrawn youth who no longer enjoys going to school. Harassment, intimidation, and bullying occur not only on school grounds but on the Internet as well through cyberbullying. It is an act which places the victim in a state of fear as a result of a gesture, a written, verbal or a physical act.  But in any form bullying must be put to an end.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam F. Philip Carbillido said, "It's hard enough for students to try and keep up with their studies and try to advance themselves to have it under the circumstances where they cannot focus concentrate because they are constantly being picked on is something that we should not tolerate as a community."

The chief justice adds as a community we must stand together, united in the fight to stop bullying in our schools and on the social media networks. "We need the overwhelming support of all of our stakeholders it's an effort that we all come together in terms of government the private sector and the Judiciary is very happy to partner with the Department of Education in addressing the ill effects of bullying," he said.

According to DOE deputy superintendent Rob Malay it was in 2010 when the community cried out for action to be taken against bullying leading the way to partnerships and educational awareness of what bullying is - helping DOE to turn the number of incidences around significantly. "It's a good thing the partnerships that we have are a good thing, it's paying off in the schools making it safer for our students. We have seen a drop over the last three years in the bullying incidents at our public schools but a lot of that has to do with the awareness and the stance that we are just going to say stand up and say no to bullying."

Bullying occurs either emotionally or physically but it's up to you to take a stand and say something put an end to bullying if you see someone being bullied or hear someone being bullied tell someone "let's unite and take a stand". 

You can show your support in the fight against bullying by wearing orange. For more information on bullying you can contact the Guam Antibullying Organization at http://www.guamabo.com.