LAGUNA BEACH – Students from San Clemente High School and El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills mobilized Saturday in a rally to build awareness of bullying in schools.
Two hundred marchers representing Cool 2 Be Kind clubs walked in the 5th annual People’s March Against Bullying.
“Our goal is to keep the bullying issue at the forefront of our communities and to demonstrate to the world our commitment to spread peace and kindness among students nationwide,” said Anna Mendez of San Clemente, whose son Daniel Mendez committed suicide at age 16 in 2009. His family has attributed it to bullying.
Mendez, executive director of the National Association of People Against Bullying, kicked off the march. Family members of Isabella Scott – a 12-year-old Texas girl who committed suicide in September – also participated in the march. The family also blames “endless bullying.”
“We may have started with Daniel’s story, but each year, we attempt to remember and pay respects to many children who have died in the crosshairs of bullying, Mendez said. “It’s still happening all too often with families and friends left stunned and bewildered.”
The event was part of a national effort by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center that declared October anti-bullying month. The march drew support from parents and students who came to Laguna Beach from Orange and Los Angeles counties. The anti-bullying campaign unites communities across the nation with support from organizations such as Facebook, Disney, CNN and Yahoo Kids.
Schools in Orange County that have Cool 2 Be Kind groups include, Dana Hills High, Ladera Ranch Middle School, Niguel Hills Middle School and San Clemente High – which has the largest chapter with more than 500 members. Internationally, a school in Managua, Nicuragua has formed a club this year.
Participants walked from Main Beach along parts of Coast Highway. Some motorists parked their cars and joined the march. Others honked their horns and gave the teens thumbs up. Shopkeepers came out to support the marchers. Several beach visitors grabbed a sign and joined the marchers as cars honked in support, passers-by waived enthusiastically, some yelling “Way to go” and “Love what you guys are doing.”
Statistics from pacer.org show that nationwide, one in four students reports having been bullied during the school year. Children who were victims of bullying by their peers were 3.3 times more likely to report having attempted suicide than those who were never bullied. An estimated 15 percent of high school students report they are bullied electronically.Data show that 64 percent of bullied kids don’t report it.
Despite those numbers, there is some improvement.
According to National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2015 the percentage of kids age 12-18 who reported being bullied through the school year dropped to 22 percent from 28 percent in 2009. Theses statistics include online bullying.
Clubs such as Cool 2 Be Kind aim to raise awareness by encouraging peer-to-peer intervention.
“The awareness is much more heightened than when Daniel died in 2009,” Mendez said. “The complaints are being taken more seriously. School administrators are responding. We are seeing teachers reach out to us to start anti-bullying complaints. When Daniel died, people were aghast that a child could take his life as a result of bullying.”
“We at NAPAB have sensed a very real change in attention to bullying issues since we first began our anti-bullying advocacy work five years ago, all among parents, administrators and students across the board,” Mendez said.
“Our message is simple,” said Kelsey Murphy, President of Cool 2 Be Kind at San Clemente High. “It is not okay to harass, make fun of, spread rumors about or persecute a student in any way. Simply by speaking up and saying “Hey that’s not cool”or “stop” can be a powerful way to help intervene in a bullying situation.”
Co-Presidents Zachary Leo and Emily Park of C2BK at El Camino Real Charter School in Woodland Hills were accompanied by several group membersin the march. “Anti-bullying is a major priority for us,” Leo said.
After Daniel Mendez’s death, Brenden Kim and some friends started Orange County’s first Cool 2 Be Kind Club at San Clemente High School. Victoria Mendez, 19, Daniel’s sister, took over as its president a year later and now a sophomore at Stanford University she has taken on the role of national Cool 2 Be Kind director for NAPAB. She motivates and assists chapters across the country.
The club has been recognized by the city of San Clemente, the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the state Senate and President Barack Obama. Chapters have formed nationwide.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2254 or eritchie@ocregister.com or on Twitter:@lagunaini
