Anti-bullying holiday declared

On Sunday evening, the Union Street Center auditorium housed a 200-person mix of high-school and college students along with members of the Bloomington and IU communities.

The high-school students were part of Spring Shadow Day, an event sponsored by the IU Office of Community and School Partnerships.

Moving Beyond Fear was an event focused on informing attendees about the consequences of bullying.

A display about disruptions of world peace was exhibited by Bloomington Safe and Civil City Director Beverly Calender-Anderson, who presented a proclamation declaring April 1 as Anti-Bullying Awareness Day. The display, titled “Transforming the Human Spirit,” is open to the public from now until April 9.

Ottawa Sanders, president of IU Soka Gakkai International, a club affiliated with Nichiren Buddhism, is a student writing a dissertation about nuclear proliferation. In her speech to the audience, Sanders stressed the global effects of intimidation and bullying.

“Nuclear weapons are a form of intimidation that are being used by wealthy countries as a type of leverage over those who don’t have the funds or means to create their own,” Sanders said. “I think we as students need to be more aware of our elected officials and how they manage the so-called threats to society.”

Shawn Woods, the keynote speaker of the event, travels the country speaking about personal and professional development. A former police officer and homicide detective, Woods has seen all sides of bullying.

“Bullying is much bigger than the classroom,” Woods said. “Bullies not stopped after third grade have a higher chance of becoming a convicted felon. One in seven people are either a victim or a bully, so it goes beyond teaching against bullying. It’s about teaching our young people to take a stand and having them call out bullying when they see it.”

At Sunday’s event, Woods offered students the possibility to email him their stories about bullying. The collected stories will be used in future speaking engagements and a book that is in the early stages of development.  

At the end of the evening, students signed anti-bullying pledges, promising to help victims and befriend those in need.

Event organizer Kim Morris-Newson, associate director of the Office of Community and School Partnerships, attributed this year’s anti-bullying theme to the stories in the news. Last year’s focus was on diversity and covered the attacks on various cultural centers on campus.

“We really want to go deeper into it and find solutions to power young people,” Morris-Newson said. “When you hear all of the tragic things happening to young people in our communities and our backyards, you have to react. We’re focusing on self-change and recognizing the power students have inside themselves.”