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River Grove students address bullying with video
Jenny Biegel, a social worker at River Grove Elementary School, works the video camera as she records a scene organized by a group of students dealing with bullying. | David Pollard~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 26, 2012 6:22AM
RIVER GROVE — No one likes a bully and some eighth grade girls are empowering their classmates to do something about dealing with them.
October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, and at River Grove Elementary School, a group of students decided put together their own video on how to stop bullying. Valerie Delgado, Gabriela Giza, Natalie Ross, Jazmine Rockett, Nataliya Grygorash, Alison Laton and Irma Tovar wrote the script and school social worker Jenny Biegel worked the video camera.
“We put out the message for students to stop bullying and to stand up for yourself in a bullying situation,” Ross said.
Student Services Coordinator Denise Nero helped the students put out the correct message about bullying. She said the school has focused on getting a positive message out about how to deal with bullying since the beginning of the month through different activities.
“We want to teach them to stand up, but be polite about it,” she said. “It’s kind of like stomping out a fire.”
The short video takes place in the school’s library, with two girls reading at a table. Another group of girls tells them they are sitting in their seats and to get up, but others come to the rescue to stop the bullying, climaxing with the group saying in unison, “We all need to stop bullying.”
The video will be shown in class.
“We’re putting it up on our server so teachers can play in on their television,” Nero said.
Biegel said this is a way of empowering students when bullying occurs.
“A lot of them watch these kinds of things happening,” she said.
Nero said the younger students look up to the older ones. She believes this video will give students the courage to do the right thing.
“It makes a mental map to the correct response,” she said.
She said making the video along with the message builds the group’s confidence as they move to high school.
“Anything to get them involved and take a leadership role,” she said. “It’s their last year.”
