NIAGARA FALLS —
Sometimes all it takes is a little authority to set a person back on the straight and narrow. It’s even more true when the person who has strayed is only an elementary school child.
That lesson, along with a few others, came to light at Henry J. Kalfas Magnet Elementary School Friday, as Niagara Falls Police Officer David Cudahy spoke about bullying and its online version to the fifth- and sixth-grade classes.
“When you bully someone, you’re probably influencing that person’s entire life,” Cudahy said. “They grow up feeling worthless. I get goosebumps thinking about it, that someone thinks that low of themselves.”
He gave the students some tips on how to avoid bullying and what to do if it finds them despite their best efforts. He even let them practice, having them stand up and, while raising their arms out in front of them, yell “stop.”
The sound of the entire group standing up as one was forceful, the exact point he was trying to make.
“No one is stronger than everyone,” he told the group. “If you stand up next to someone, and someone else stands up, what do you think is going to happen? The bully’s going to stop, right?”
Cudahy said the department had gotten a request to visit the school because of some incidents which had been happening there. He said he was glad to step in and provide his assistance.
In an effort to reinforce the students, he told them they don’t need to be as big as him or as old as him to make sure bullying is ended. Even online bullying, which has been a major concern for educators not just locally, but worldwide. After students have ended their own lives, like Williamsville’s Jamey Rodemeyer, it’s more important than ever to stand up and be a hero, he said.
“Bullying online is easy, it’s for cowards,” he said. “But you don’t need a uniform, you don’t need this (badge) to be a hero to someone. You can be a hero to someone else, to yourself.”
The message seemed to resonate with the students afterward. Sixth-grade students Brooklynn Adams and Robert Reynolds said they learned something from the talk.
“I learned to stand up for myself,” Adams said. “But I also wonder if the person doing the bullying has something going on in their life that would cause them to take their feelings out on other people.”
Adams also said if she sees someone else being bullied, she’s going to stand up for them and inform an adult about the situation.
Local News
Related Photos
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Henry J. Kalfas Magnet School sixth-grade students Laura Martinez, left, and Grace Schwerinski, right, join classmates in gesturing with both hands and saying the word “stop” loudly. Photo by James Neiss
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Niagara Falls Police Officer Dave Cudahy tells students everybody deserves to feel happy, during an anti-bullying talk at Henry J. Kalfas Magnet School. Photo by James Neiss
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