No Bully Zone: Boys and Girls Club of America

The service learning project had the three of us traveling to three different Boys and Girls Clubs in order to experience the different varieties of programs that are offered against violence in the organizations. As stated in the previous post, Maria went to the Boys and Girls Club in Woburn, Mary Ellen went to Arlington and Kerrie went to Salem.

The boys and girls club of Salem is located on Hawthorne Boulevard in downtown Salem. The establishment has been home to many Salem children, who attend the program for activities, after-school clubs and activities. The programs at the Boys and Girls Club of Salem offer a variety of clubs for teens that help them to become role model citizens and help to build self esteem and make good choices. One of the programs that I was interested in finding out about was The Teen Girl Group which allows teen girls to meet and address issues that they are facing in school and their lives. The program offers trips and sessions to help teens cope with the problems in their lives.

I had the honor of speaking with the Teen Director Andre Daley on the phone, who told me that the issue of Bullying is a topic that is frequently discussed in the Teen Girls Group. He encouraged me to come down and sit in on one of the sessions that the girls would be having and said that, "It is an eye opening experience to see just how prevalent bullying is in our society. It's disturbing just how many of the teens have experienced or participated in bullying first hand," I was able to stop by and witness a discussion on the topic of bullying which was brought up by Daley himself. The discussion was immensly profound, just to see that every single girl in that room had witnessed or been bullied themselves.

For more information on the Boys and Girls Club of Salem visit:

www.bgcgs.org/index.asp

Kerrie's Reflection

I wasn't sure what to expect when I went down to the Boys and Girls Club to sit in at the Teen Girl Group, but what I found wasn't what I had expected. I thought that I would ask some of the girls some questions about if they had been bullied and if they would do anything to stop bullying. What I didn't expect was for the director of the Teen Group to accompany upstairs. He introduced me and I told the girls that I was from Salem State doing a project about Bullying for one of my classes. Daley then began asking the girls questions about whether they had been bullied or if they had ever bullied someone.

It was remarkable that the girls openly admitted to doing both. The girls who had been bullied mostly told stories about hurtful words from text messages, and one girl spoke of actually fighting another girl. Another girl openly admitted to writing slander words to a classmate over facebook, and said that she had been angry and regretted doing it ever since.

What I found to be very interesting was that the girls were very passionate about talking on the subject. They had a wealth of information about what their school was like and how bullying happened a lot.

I believe that sharing these stories were beneficial for the girls because they also discussed remorse for either participating or not doing anything to stop it. Talking about the issues could have also helped relieve the pain they could have felt when cyber bullying had become an issue in their lives.

I believe that talking about bullying and putting bullying programs into place is essential for students become educated on the topic of bullying. The more intervention there is and the earlier it starts, the less likely bullying is going to happen, according to Daley.

I would love to host a seminar at the Boys and Girls Club in the future discussing Bullying and Prevention of violence. I believe that these girls benefited from talking about it, and were interested in helping to stop it themselves. I would love to volunteer and help to make this a possibility in the future. My hopes is that they will remember what they had learned during that meeting and put it into action if they are ever faced with seeing bullying first hand.

No Bully Zone:  Boys and Girls Clubs of America

The three of us went to our local Boys and Girls Clubs to complete our service learning project. We went to different clubs because we wanted to compare and contrast the anti-bullying awareness and prevention in three different areas. We chose to do our service learning projects at the Boys and Girls Club because they offer many different activities for students that may deter them from partaking in bullying.  MaryEllen went to the Boys and Girls Club in Arlington. Maria went to the Boys and Girls Club in Woburn.

                The Boys and Girls Club in Arlington is in a relatively old building in front of Spy Pond. Despite the old building the president, Richard B. Gallagher offers many programs to prevent bullying at the Arlington Boys and Girls Club. According to Gallagher, “We do not offer any explicit anti-bullying or bullying prevention programs. However, we do offer a safe environment for kids of all ages where bullying is not accepted on any level. Through our sports and after-school programs we advocate the importance of engaging in activities other than bullying. We teach the kids how to interact with other kids without bullying.”  

            The Boys and Girls Club in Woburn is a newly renovated building set back from the main road it is located off of.  Through their mission, the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn inspires and enables all young people, especially those who need them most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.  The Boys and Girls Club of Woburn holds seminars to educate club members about bullying.  Although I was not able to attend one of the club’s anti-bullying seminars, I was able to speak to one of the staff at the club who was able to tell me a little but about what goes on during the seminar.  The Boys and Girls Club of Woburn hires a speaker to come in and discuss bullying and the different aspects about bullying with staff and club members.  According to one of the staff, “The seminar was really effective.  The kids were given a lot of information along with anti-bullying bracelets.  The kids who went to the seminar could not stop talking about it, and how it changed their outlook on bullying.”

                  With no explicit anti-bullying programs present the days we volunteered, we participated in the various activities provided to the children during the drop in program. As part of the drop in program children 6-17 years old can come to the club at any time after school. During that time various activities are available to them from ping-pong tournaments, relay races in the gym, open swim time, to arts and crafts; and those are just the popular ones! There had to be at least 50 children of all ages eager to participate in the activities planned for the day. The first game was a quick game of floor hockey. While the teams were picked, we noticed that there was no kid to kid whispering about not picking a particular child to be on their team. We also noticed that the adults organizing the game arranged it so the adults were chosen last. To be honest, watching the kids select teams without whispering or complaining about a particular child surprised me. During the games, there were not any children left out. Then during the floor hockey game the teams all passed to one another. No child left any of the games because he or she was feeling left out or bored.

                We observed zero situations of emotional bullying or physical bullying during games where it could have been extremely prudent in a different setting. The adults organizing the games in the gym enhanced that “safe environment” that the Boys and Girls Clubs strive for. There was a zero bullying tolerance in the games that were organized. The children then must have become so completely accustomed to this zero tolerance that they do not even have a tendency to start bullying. The staff at all of the Boys and Girls Clubs all work together to make each club bully free.

Boys and Girls Club Websites:

Arlington:  http://www.abgclub.org/

Woburn:  http://www.bgcwoburn.org/

MaryEllen’s Reflection:

                I did not end bullying forever the day I went to the Boys and Girls Club in Arlington. I did however, participate in a particular activity that could have involved a lot of bulling but rather had a zero bullying tolerance. The children playing floor hockey developed the attitudes that bullying is not worth taking away from the fun of engaging in a game. As these children grow up they will most likely have the same general attitude. With all these children having the same general attitude bullying is likely to be less prudent. Furthermore, it is the Boys and Girls Clubs of America that are preventing bullying forever. But the children need to go to the clubs and adapt these attitudes in order for it to be completely effective.

                I would absolutely volunteer or work at a Boys and Girls Club or a similar institution to develop the bullying prevention attitudes in kids. I believe once the majority of the children in America learn that bullying is not worth the time it takes away from fun then bullying will slowly decline. However, I do not think bullying will disappear forever. But if the children develop the mentality that is instilled in the children that go to the Boys and Girls Clubs then bullying will not be as prudent as it is today.

                Teaching service learning and having students engaged in a service learning project is essential. I believe the service learning projects can make children aware of the world around them. Also, engaging in the project will help children realize that everyone can make a difference. That difference might not be catastrophic but every attempt affects someone for the better. If everyone tried to make a difference everyday then the world would be a very different place than it is today. And who knows, maybe that student I assign a service learning project to will become the next Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr.

Maria’s Reflection:

            By taking time to volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn, I was able to see that bullying can be prevented and steps are being taken to do so.  Through the club’s hard work, persistence, and funded seminars, bullying is no longer an issue at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn.  All members of the club are able to work together, whether it be in the “After the bell academic enrichment program” or on the basketball court.  Because of the success of the seminar at the Boys and Girls Club, all twelve of the schools in Woburn are working with the Boys and Girls Club to become advocates for anti-bullying seminars.  It is intended that these seminars will spread to and be adopted by surrounding communities, putting an end to bullying.

            Volunteering at my local Boys and Girls Club is something that I have done since high school, and continue to do.  As a former club member, and member of the swim team, I think it is important for college and high school students to volunteer at these institutes to give the club members a role model.  I think it is important for people to volunteer and spend time promoting something they believe in.  Bullying is an issue that is important to me as a future teacher.  By seeing the actions taken at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn and the results, the actions should be adopted by all student centers.  I would continue to spread bullying awareness to children, to assist in the end to bullying. 

            By going out and focusing my volunteering toward something that is important to me, it has made a major impact on me and my outlook on bullying.  Although I believed in anti-bullying programs, I always thought it would be difficult to end bullying.  The Boys and Girls Club of Woburn allowed me to have hope, and to see that bullying can be prevented with hard work and persistence.  Without completing this service learning project, I would always be skeptical of the idea of bullying coming to an end.  In the future, I would like to have students complete a service learning project on a topic of their choice, in hopes that they would obtain the same insight that I was able to.