Kyle Tracht
Staff Reporter
If you have a locker, you’ve probably noticed the notes. You know, the heart-shaped notes with positive messages written on them, stuck on every locker in the building? Yeah, those notes. Many of us dismiss them, tearing them from our lockers or just leaving them there. But the way they got there, though obvious, is nonetheless interesting.
The Bully Free Forever club, or BFF, as it’s more commonly called, is a nationwide movement in our public school system to end bullying in schools. They spread positivity throughout the school, the most obvious of methods being the notes on lockers. They also have ‘Free Hug Days,’ which is exactly what it sounds like: students go around the school, offering free hugs to those who are having a bad day, or just want a hug.
At April 12th’s BFF Assembly, guest speaker Ken E. Nwakinade, the leader of the ‘Free Hugs’ initiative that inspired ‘Free Hug Day’, spoke on how he got his start, and how it impacted his life. He also showed footage from his videos, depicting how his actions during riots and protests helped curb the violence.
The BFF club stresses the importance of not just standing by and letting bullying continue, saying that everyone should play a role in helping to end bullying in Atholton and other schools. All students are encouraged to join the club, but the club stresses that you don’t need to be a member in order to help stop bullying. What matters is that you take a stand against bullying no matter where you see it.
Every one of us should strive to help end bullying in schools, and to make them as safe as can be for everyone. In a perfect world, this wouldn’t have to be emphasized- but unfortunately, in today’s society, it does. Millions of children are bullied everyday, and approximately 160,000 students skip school a day because of bullying, according to DoSomething.org. Together, however, we can bring those numbers down to zero.
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