Anti-Bullying Week

Anti-Bullying Week at Seaman Middle School
Posted on 10/10/2019
Anti-Bullying WeekAnti-bullying week tends to bring classroom lessons and activities focused on recognizing and preventing bullying, but this year our counselor Ms. Chelcie Heitman brought the lesson to the lunchroom!  Mix It Up day gave students the chance to sit and chat with peers that they may not interact with on a regular basis and practice kindness, acceptance, and understanding.

Students were given a Life-Saver when they entered the lunch room, the color of which coordinated to colored tents placed on the lunch room tables.  Students sat at their designated color and were then joined by other students who had been given the same color of Life-Saver.  As a group, those students then spent lunch working through a series of conversation starters to learn about each other.  Questions as simple as “what is your most comfortable piece of clothing?” all the way to deep thinking questions such as “how do you plan to make the world a better place?” were presented for students to discuss.

While the conversations took place, our principal Ms. Annie Diederich roamed the cafeteria and reinforced our school-wide expectations of Respect, Effort, and Responsibility by passing out Viking Dollars to students who were actively participating in the activity.  Students showed respect by listening to their peers and responding to their answers to the questions.  Students showed effort by spending the entire lunch hour discussing the questions and spending time discussing with their peers.  Finally, students showed responsibility by following directions from the very beginning and finding a seat based on their color of Life Saver.

What may seem like a simple activity to some can have a huge impact on a middle schooler’s life.  To feel included in a social setting like lunch, when you may not typically be included, is a great start to preventing bullying.