STUDENTS HOSTED an anti-bullying assembly to share their stories and encourage each other to stand up to bullies May 8.
Jared Daumont talked about being bullied, stating in primary school and into elementary school.
He would not want to go to school while the bullying continued.
He started taking taekwondo and that helped him.
“I said to my bully ‘I’m a blue belt and western Canadian champ and I won’t let you pick on me,” he told the school.
The physical bullying stopped but it continued verbally.
He says the simple question “Why?” brought out a bunch of reasons from his bully, who he says he has resolved things with.
As he became more confident, he would stand up not only for himself but for any friends who were being bullied too.
Everyone needs to stand up and use their voices to stop bullying, he said.
“Someone will always be there to help you,” he said. Daumont also urged teachers to listen when someone says they’re being bullied and help.
He credited Thornhill Elementary teacher Susan Rusch for always being there for him.
His sister Jordyn came by from Skeena Middle School to sing True Colours and tell the students that it means to embrace who you are and not let people change you.
“You are who you are meant to be,” she said.
Allyson Parkes and Katarina Wriglesworth talked about cyber-bullying, saying it was when a person says bad things about someone else on Facebook, Twitter, email or texting.
They’re difficult to stop because they’re hiding behind the mask of a computer screen, but they can be blocked or you can tell your parents if you’re being cyber-bullied.