To honour November as Bully Awareness month, local school Glenbow Elementary gets ready to kick-off the “Make My Day” campaign.
“We are helping children realize that any act of kindness, whether it is intervening a bullying experience or just simply doing something kind for someone in a day, that it has a positive impact – not only on the person they are doing it for but also for themselves,” said Colleen Heschl-Ball, child development advisor.
The kick off will show a video montage of school staff and community members engaged in acts of kindness with the slogan “Make My Day” in the short film. And once the campaign begins, organizers are inviting students to write names of their peers on blue shirts to recognize an act of service, courage or kindness.
“We are hoping to circle the school with little blue shirts that have the act of kindness or a way that another person made their day written on a blue shirt,” Heschl-Ball said.
The campaign has no official end date. Organizers want to stress to the students that bullying awareness and being kind is not something to focus on for just a week but for every day of the year.
“It is really important that kids understand they can have an impact on someone’s life – a child should understand that their actions have an impact on another person. It is really important to learn from the minute they begin interacting with other people right up to adulthood,” Heschl-Ball said.
The campaign was inspired by a recent study that organizers talk about, saying it shows if a bystander intervenes in a bullying situation, the bullying behaviour stops within 10 seconds. “Make My Day” will also focus on the key character aspects of empathy and self-awareness.
“I think it’s going to be great because they will realize how much control they have, not only over their lives but somebody else’s,” Heschl-Ball said.
“The children will realize that anyone wants to feel good about themselves and we have the power to do that for them with a simple kind word or gesture – we need to learn and keep learning every day, not only as children but also as adults.”
For more information on the campaign contact Glenbow Elementary at 403-932-4922.
