Santa Rosa students pledge to be ‘Scorpions against bullying’

Last week Santa Rosa Elementary School students and staff participated in the national No Name Calling Week, pledging to be “Scorpions against Bullying.”

The week is an annual event that includes educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds by providing elementary, middle and high schools with tools to eliminate bullying.
According to the National Association of School Psychologists, between 15 and 30 percent of all students are either bullies or their victims.

No Name Calling Week, which began in 2004, was inspired by the young adult novel “The Misfits” by James Howe. The book tells about four best friends who grew tired of being teased and ran for student council on a “No Name Calling” platform.

“We had lots of fun activities to teach our students about bullying and how they can help prevent bullying in our school,” said Santa Rosa principal Danielle Record.

The week’s activities included a put a cap on name calling day with students encouraged to wear a cap, a walk a mile in someone else’s shoes (a mismatched shoe day) and a bullying is not cool (sunglasses day). The week ended with a “Scorpions have each other’s back” (backwards clothing day) and a school colors “we are family” day.

Throughout the week students and staff members learned about bullying and how to help others when they see bullying at school.

Photo by Joyce Hollis