By Page Austin, Harvest Lifestyle Manager
It’s August, which means kids go back to school. Now is a great time to talk to your kids about bullying. Teach them how to identify bullying and how to stand up to it safely. Did you know that 1 out of 5 students will be bullied this coming school year? This could be your child. There is a great online resource to help you, www.stopbullying.gov. We want to empower students to choose kindness and acceptance and help them realize that their actions and words matter.
We sat down with Harvest students and recent Argyle High School graduates, Nico Patrick and Brenden Dixon. Both Nico and Brenden were leaders—both on and off the field. Nico received a baseball scholarship to Navarro College and Brenden received a baseball scholarship to the University of Texas. They both had a lot to say about bullying and we wanted to share their experience and advice.
Were you ever bullied?
Yes, most people are probably bullied at some point in their life.
Have you bullied other or have seen friends bully other students?
We have seen people being bullied and we probably teased others. It’s hard to step up and be a voice for those being bullied. It puts you on the spot. Nico said he remembers feeling helpless and didn’t really know what to do. You don’t want to get involved because you don’t know the full scenario. You don’t feel like you can tell a teacher because that’s just not thing to do.
If you could go back, what would you tell your freshman self?
We would want to make more of an action to stop bullying. Looking back, we should have rallied our friends to help make a stand. That way we wouldn’t have to do it alone. We would also encourage the kids being bullied to tell a teacher. No one deserves to be bullied. It’s so easy to not do anything or to even join in because that is what the “cool” kids are doing. But then you grow up a little bit and read about how students take their life because they couldn’t cope with the bullying at school. It’s awful. So, we would tell our freshman self to be better and stand up for those who don’t stand up for themselves.
What advice would you give to incoming freshman or to new kids?
First, if you are new it’s not that you aren’t cool you just don’t know anyone. You must put yourself out there and take a risk. Don’t worry about what other people think of you. You must be confident in who you are. Secondly, join a club and get involved. Whether you play sports, chess, or band find something you enjoy. When you are part of a club or sport, those people become like family and they will have your back. They become your support system.
We really appreciate Nico and Brenden. They were open and honest. It’s hard to reflect and recognize things you wish you could have done better, but that’s real life. We appreciate them and wish them all the luck next year in college!! #HarvestBetterTogether
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