HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2013-11-27, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Taking the time to talk
Photos by Whitney South Huron Exposito
Grandma Eveleen McDonagh teaches Grade 13 student Brittany Herbold how to crochet granny squares.
Grade 12 student Nick Rawlings gets the hang of how to crochet with a little help from volunteer grandma
Alice Hakkers.
Whitney South
Huron Expositor
This year, St. Anne's Catholic Second-
ary School brought in some backup for
their annual Bullying Prevention Week
campaign.
A handful of Huron County grandmas
treated students to a little crocheting and
conversation Nov. 20, in an effort to help
kids realize there's more to being social
than social media.
Students got to interact with the
grandmas during senior and junior
lunch, taking part in some good old fash-
ioned chatter, while picking up tips on
some of the finer points of knitting, cro-
cheting and cross-stitch.
St. Anne's principal Jodi Kuran hoped
the week's activities would help students
learn how to maintain proper and
respectful relationships.
"We all know what to do but some-
times we make mistakes," she said. "So
every single day we had a young group
of people called the Agents of Change,
planning activities"
Schools participating in Bullying Pre-
vention Week are provided with a web-
site of resources with suggestions on
themes for activities. This year's topics
included inclusion, the negative effects
of gossip, social media, what it means to
be a bystander and the importance of
lcindness towards others.
The grandmas were chosen to partici-
pate in the day dedicated to social media
due to their slcill of creating kind and lov-
ing conversation.
After all, who doesn't enjoy a chat with
grandma?
"We decided that the old face to face
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conversations aren't happening as much
as they used to and that it's almost
become a lost art," explained Kuran,
adding that most people feel social
media has so much negativity due to the
fact those online find courage in the lack
of real life conversation. "So we came up
with this idea that if you can't say some-
thing to your grandma, you probably
shouldn't be saying it at all."
Throughout the day, students were
asked to use social media positively by
posting things such as what they were
grateful for or what inspires them, using
the hashtag #sayittoyourgma.
According to Kuran, schools have an
obligation to educate their students
about social media due to the repercus-
sions it can have on the school environ-
ment as well as their overall well-being.
"Kids use it as a major form of com-
munication and with that comes a lot of
pressure.. All this social media has come
up so fast and there hasn't been enough
education to go along with how rapidly it
is increasing"
One of St. Anne's Agents of Change,
Grade 12 student Sara Hoy said she was
pleased with the day's turnout.
"I was so happy. We weren't sure if it
was gonna fly," she laughed. "A lot of the
grandmas are grandmas of the students
and got them to come out as well'
Even though she has never been a vic-
tim of bullying herself, Hoy said she tries
to encourage others to treat each other
with respect, especially when it comes to
social media.
"Because of being a leader here, in
addition to my own morals, I've tried to
discourage people from doing that
online. Just because it's online, doesn't
mean it doesn't affect people the same
way as if you would say it to their face
Hoy went on to explain that cyberbul-
lying can have a ripple effect, much like
a virus, and she hoped everyone was
able to take something valuable away
from the day's activity.
"You can say things and it can break
people down but at the same time you
can say nice things and that can be a
positive. It's important for everyone to
know that when you post things online,
it is the same as saying it to somebody's
face. Be respectful all the time in person
or online and realize what the effects are
on people."
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