It’s hard to escape growing up without ever having experienced – or
witnessed – bullying. What once amounted to shoving and name-calling
has, in some cases, turned deadly: the recent suicides of several
bullying victims has shined new light on the issue. According to the
latest figures, nearly a third of middle and high school students have
admitted to being bullied.
Schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn are taking notice and taking
action. We visited St. Sebastian School in Woodside, Queens, to learn
about their bully prevention program — and why, by all accounts,
their method seems to work.

* St. Sebastian School’s bully prevention program is based on the
Olweus method. And it comes with a few rules. One – we will not bully
others. Two – we will try to help students who are bullied. Three – we
will try to include students who are left out. And four – if we know
that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an
adult at home. And those are some definite rules to live by.