Cochrane High School’s Psychology Club spread awareness and tasty treats during the nation-wide initiative Bullying Awareness Week last week.
From Monday, Nov. 16, to Friday, Nov. 20., members of the club ran a fundraiser selling “Stand Up to Bullying” wristbands and “wellness” cookies during the school’s lunch hours in order to draw attention to the nation-wide initiative and to raise funds for their club’s operations.
“Bullying Awareness Week is an opportunity for people at the grassroots level in communities around the world to get involved in this issue [by everyone] work[ing] together on preventing bullying in our communities through education and awareness,” states the initiative’s website.
The Psych Club, which is made up of a group of “students who are really into psychology and helping with mental health”, fully supports this initiative according to Carolyn McLeod, the club’s founder and a teacher at the high school.
Every school year the club organizes and runs a number of events centered around mental health, of which bullying can have a detrimental effect.
“Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy,” states StopBullying.Gov.
Overall, the club’s fundraiser raised $178.20 which will go a long way towards funding its operations.
“We don’t get a lot of funding for these sorts of things,” said McLeod.
The anti-bullying wristbands sold during the fundraiser were provided by Bill Belsey, Cochrane resident and creator and facilitator of bullying.org, which, according to the site, is “one of the most visited and referenced Websites about bullying in the world.”
Any money leftover in the club’s budget at the end of the year will be donated.
