Unbeknownst to me, and just about everyone else I have spoken to, Wednesday was national anti-bullying day.
The University Student Union Program Council held an anti-bullying event, called Unite Against Bullying, on the Southwest terrace on campus to recognize anti-bullying day.
Attendance was underwhelming. Only a few students signed the pledge against bullying, which was the main feature of the event. Those in attendance were also asked to fill out a link on a paper chain of why, in their own experience, bullying should be stopped.
Bullying is something that students often equate to a juvenile concern, but perhaps we should take a more active stance against it.
“Bullying doesn’t just stop when you graduate high school,” Javier Zepeda, a program council assistant and junior communications student, said. “It can happen in the form of harassment in college or even at work.”
Zepeda said bullying is typically not a big issue on campus, but that it is something “we should show a little compassion and concern for” as a school.
Perhaps the best thing that came out of the event was a crowd of elementary school children on a fieldtrip that stopped at the table towards the end of the event. Initially attracted by the free candy, the kids were educated about why bullying should be stopped.
Before leaving, the children were asked to write am explanation of why bullying is bad on a link of a paper chain. Some of the children were surprisingly insightful and firmly against “picking on the other kids.”
Taylor Buhler-Scott, the USU Program Council activities coordinator, was pleased with the turn out of the event. She said they were able to pass out all of their anti-bullying wristbands.
When asked why Buhler-Scott decided to bring the event to campus, she said it was a “growing topic” of concern in America.
“Bullying is a problem, no matter what age; even college students can experience it,” Buhler-Scott said.
Franchesca Rodriguez, a sophomore nutrition and dietetics student, said she signed the pledge because her experience with bullying made her actively against it.
“In high school, I was bullied about my hair and how it was so big and so curly and not like everybody else’s hair,” Rodriguez said. “So I grew up hating my hair and straightening it, trying to be like everyone else.”
If students on campus experience bullying, they are advised to seek help from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) or contact Jeff Klaus, the Dean of Students, directly.
Carol Roberts-Corb, the housing director on campus, said there has been no documented complaint of bullying in the dorms so far this semester.
“From my general experience working with various colleges, Cal State Long Beach students are good at being respectful of people that may be different from them,” Roberts-Corb said.
Roberts-Corb also said the housing office enforces campus regulations on bullying and harassment.
As of August 2014, a “student anti-bullying” policy has been in place at CSULB. Previous policies had already been able to “deal with” bullying issues, Klaus said.
Regulation 19, the student anti-bullying policy states that CSULB “believes that all students have a right to a safe and healthy learning environment. The university has an obligation to promote civility, mutual respect, tolerance and acceptance.”
“This is our way, as a school, to take a firm stand against bullying and that we will not tolerate it,” Klaus said.
Klaus said that in general, CSULB does not have an issue of bullying “in large volume,” but that even one bullied student is one too many.
Buhler-Scott said that the lack of participants at Unite Against Bullying could be due to the minimal foot-traffic on the southwest terrace, but that ultimately she was happy with the turnout.
“Even if just one student learned something today, the event was a success,” Bugler-Scott said.