Anti-bullying theme promoted at Forest Ridge

By Carla Allen

THE COAST GUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

With voices raised in sweet harmony, the Grade 2/3 classes at Forest Ridge Academy are trying to get their message across. “Don't laugh at me, don't call me names, don't get your pleasure from my pain, in God's eyes we’re all the same. Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me,” they sing.

The students, along with teacher Jennifer Smith’s assistance, have produced a video to teach the anti-bullying message.

The students have learned a lot from the experience says Smith, including the definition of bullying. “When we first watched the video it wasn’t the type of bullying they were thinking of,” she said. “They thought bullying was more physical. They didn’t realize that leaving someone out, or not sharing toys is a form of bullying.”

Smith adopted the idea of making the short video after watching a similar one produced by Mount Carmel School in Cape Breton. That school got the idea from the original song by Allen Shamblin and Steve Seskin.

The Forest Ridge production will be burned to a CD and copies will be distributed to each student in Smith’s class. The video will be shown at a school assembly in the near future.

Smith believes the anti-bullying techniques highlighted in the film are already benefitting students. “They are now a lot more confident in how to cope,” she said.