Banishing Bullying, Promoting Kindness

Bullying, including cyberbullying among others, has still persisted in schools across the country. However, high schools like Dana Hills are making strides to meet this goal of awareness and, in educating the student body, put a stop to bullying.

Danny Cullen, Dana’s Associated Student Union (ASU) president, explained, “We tackle bullying by creating a kinder community here at Dana. Our student leaders emphasize our #sharethelove initiative through weekly acts of kindness. It is one of our core values that is implemented in all of our events.”

As Cullen communicated, Dana goes out of their way to make sure there is a kind and welcoming community for students which effectively discourages bullying. Within the Dana Point community, bullying awareness can go a long way to mitigate it. While the hope is that bullying will be eliminated on campus, hopefully students will be inspired to be kind off of campus as well

Cullen also explained, “We encouraged the entire student body to wear orange on Oct. 31st in support of bullying prevention month.” Orange is the official color of bullying prevention month; wearing orange during this time shows that the Dana community recognizes that students deserve to be safe both at school and online.

Bullying is a serious issue and Dana’s efforts to take part in raising awareness for bullying, through their weekly acts of kindness, make students feel comfortable at DHHS which is all students, faculty and parents can ask for.

In addition to providing a safe space that is welcoming and inclusive for students, spreading awareness of bullying and its ramifications is paramount to eliminating it. Communication between administrators and students can foster a sense of trust.

With social media continuously gaining prevelance in today’s society, students and adults alike can cultivate and uphold digital positivity, which inspires others to also promote positivity.