Last modified: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 12:26 AM

EDT

For Lynn students, bully remedy is in the bag

By Laura Paine / The Daily Item

LYNN - Students at the Washington school are Washington School students and teachers
working to "Bag Bullying" throughout Lynn one display examples of their anti-bully shopping
grocery shopper at a time. bags last week at the Shaw’s supermarket in
Lynn. Courtesy photo
Ellen Patterson's fourth-grade class came up with
the idea to decorate brown paper shopping bags with anti-bullying messages. Last Tuesday, the
class went to the State Street Shaw's to meet with assistant store director Derek Bruhm, in an
effort to spread the message to shoppers and their families that bullying needs to end.

"It was my classroom's idea and we decided to ask the other classrooms and they have all jumped
on board from third all the way up to sixth grade. We know how important it is to stop bullying
and this is our way to internalize it," Patterson said.

Students will bring decorated bags to the store for the rest of the school year, which Bruhm said
is a great way to spread the message and a way for Shaw's to show their support for the
community and its schools.

"We try to reach out to communities and they approached us. It seemed like a win, win
(situation). It's a positive message. The kids seem really excited about it and when the kids are
excited about it, it usually reflects well on the school," he said.

Jerome McNulty is a fourth-grade student and he recognizes the issue is wide spread and not
always an easy fix.

"There is bullying in different schools. There is bullying all over the place. There is bullying on
the streets and people want to stop bullying but they can't," McNulty said. "It's hard. In my
school lots of people swear and bully, so we are trying to stop that. I get bullied a lot, but I swear
and I am trying to stop. I don't bully other people and I just want to stop it so everybody in the
school can be calm and not be in the hallway hitting things when we are trying to work."

Patterson said children need to know it is safe in all of the schools, that they will not be
emotionally or physically harmed.

"At a young age, children are learning they shouldn't bully and there are ways to stick up for
other people instead of being a bystander. We are empowering children with these words to take
with them in situations," she said.

Sixth-grader Isaiha Berrios was affected when he heard about South Hadley student Phoebe
Prince.
"We saw that there was a girl who (committed) suicide because of bullying and now we are
trying to prevent any more suicide or depression because of bullying," Berrios said. "People get
emotionally hurt and when they emotionally hurt the pain they have growing up starts affecting
their personality and makes them angrier, worried and it makes it more of a possibility that they
will start hurting people."

Karen Picone, who teaches third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, said it is important to stop bullying,
especially in a big city school.

"With the stuff in Hadley going on, it is important to start bringing it up in the early grades
because when kids get bullied they turn around and then they're bullies. They don't recognize
they are doing the same behaviors they don't like. We are trying to do that Golden Rule thing.
Treat others the way you want to be treated," she said.

Fourth-grader Natural Allen and third-grader Claudious Williams said a lot of kids at school
bully. Their classmate, third-grader Noeli Hernandez, said that bullying scares her.

"It gets you really scared and gets you really frustrated when people talk about you and hurt you.
It is really scary. It is just scary because they are just bullying you and that's not really nice," she
said.

Hernandez suggests that kids tell their teachers and their mothers when they arrive home from
school to stop bullying in its tracks. Earl Moore Jr., who is in fifth grade, explained that he is
tired because when he gets bullied it keeps him up at night. He wants it to end so that he can get
a good night's sleep. Fifth-grader Gabby Mota said making the bags will be a good reminder to
be nice.

"Every time a person buys something they can use it, see what it says and it will make bullies
stop being mean," she said.