Thursday, January 18, 2007
East student tackles bullying issue
Seasoned volunteer helps bring well-known speaker to school; open forum heldBy Monica Young
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL
KERNERSVILLE
Lorna Fink, a senior at East Forsyth High School, organized the first "No Bull! Be Noble!" anti-bullying event, which was held Jan. 13 at the school.
Fink said she felt compelled to tackle bullying because she feels that it is something that happens to everyone. She said that she has been on both ends of bullying. She has been the recipient, and she has doled some of it out, too. "To some extent, there isn't someone who hasn't been bullied," she said.
She decided that it would be an interesting project to do at East Forsyth after graffiti with a bullying message caused fear among some students for a few days earlier in this school year.
Tony Bartoli, who speaks out against bullying, traveled from Orlando, Fla., to be the guest speaker at the first event. Bartoli suffered extreme bullying as a child, mainly because he had cerebral palsy. He talked about his personal experiences.
After the program, Fink said she was pleased that 100 students had turned out for the event. One of the most enlightening parts of the program was the open forum at the end. Bartoli, Fink and school officials moderated a discussion about bullying.
"One of the best things to come out of it was parents talking about Internet bullying," Fink said. "As a result, we're going to have a parents' night as a spinoff to address that topic."
Fink began planning the event after she heard a challenge issued during an Emerging Public Leaders forum at Furman University last summer. Fink, who plans to study political science, said she is interested in attending Furman this fall.
The forum provided a $500 grant through the Riley Institute for a community-service project. The participants were told to create a program and return in March.
Projects will be presented to a panel of judges. The winning project will receive $2,000 to be given to the charity of the winner's choice.
Fink said she decided to hold an event to discourage bullying.
Fink said she wants the program to become an annual event, to help stop bullying from being a common occurrence.
Principal Patricia Gainey of East Forsyth said that Fink's maturity and willingness to start a campaign against bullying impressed her.
Fink said that the weeks leading up to the event were tiring but worth it. When the event was over, Fink turned to her next project - completing college applications.
Last year, Fink participated in the YMCA Youth and Government program in Raleigh. That gives North Carolina high-school students an opportunity to participate in the legislative process and understand democracy by learning the art of debate through parliamentary procedure.
In 2005, Fink was honored as a distinguished finalist in the Prudential Spirit Community Awards program, which honors outstanding youth volunteers.
Fink was honored for undergoing training over the past year to raise seeing-eye guide dogs for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
She also helped to care for abandoned animals until they could be adopted.
• Monica Young can be reached at
cyoung9@triad.rr.com.
*According to a recent survey, 1 out of every 4 children have been bullied and 77% of America's youth have personally experienced bullying!*
