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LaPorte students take stand against
bullying
By Stan Maddux - Times Correspondent
March 4, 2010
About 2,000 students in LaPorte took a
stand against bullying Wednesday by signing a football field-sized
banner that will be sent to Chicago and other parts of the nation.
The goal is to have the 100-pound banner, signed later Wednesday
afternoon by students at St. Stanislaus School in Michigan City, on
display at the White House.
"We're looking for other states to come on board with the stop
bullying program," said Betty Hoeffner, founder of Hey U.G.L.Y. --
Unique Gifted Loveable You.
Hey U.G.L.Y. is a Rolling Prairie-based group that reaches
nationwide to empower children to feel good about themselves despite
bullying, name-calling and other forms of abuse.
"We're also getting contacted by children in China, Spain, Portugal,
Canada, England and New Zealand recently," Hoeffner said.
Unkind remarks about a child's weight and other forms of abuse can
mark victims with lifelong emotional scars and be a factor in
victims becoming bullies themselves as adults.
Hoeffner said a child's self-esteem being lowered by harsh words is
a problem worsened today because of the Internet, text messaging and
other new methods of communicating.
In schools, the Hey U.G.L.Y. program emphasizes instructing students
to replace negative thoughts and statements about themselves and
others into something positive.
Books are distributed to students with instructions on how not to
become a bully and how to respond when seeing others being bullied.
Following a 45-minute program in the gymnasium, Blake Curtis, 16, a
LaPorte High School sophomore, said he hopes the name-calling,
pushing and other forms of bullying are reduced.
Curtis said while he signed the banner, he thought about the number
of kids who are being bullied right now and how he was helping them.
Hoeffner said statistics from the Centers for Disease Control show
almost 870,000 students nationwide every month stay home at least
once a week because of fears about their safety.
She said a bullied child can result in bullying as an adult and in
relationships at home and work.
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