Las Vegas students embrace anti-bullying ‘No Place for Hate’
The walls of Bertha Ronzone Elementary School are adorned with art — paintings of mountains, miniature stick people, skies full of clouds. One wall is covered by a rainbow with little hearts in many colors — some plain, some bedazzled — all linked for a common cause.
“The hearts represent a place for students at this school,” said Rhonda Martines, site coordinator for Communities in Schools at Ronzone Elementary. “I wanted them to know that they have a place here. They should feel safe. We are here to help them.”
The hearts are part of the school’s No Place for Hate (NPFH) program, an initiative created by the Anti-Defamation League seeking to combat bullying in schools. Ronzone will be among about 20 schools that will receive banners for participating in NPFH at Sunday’s second annual Walk Against Hate at the Springs Preserve.
Martines was motivated to implement the initiative at Ronzone when she noticed an increase in bullying among students.
“There was a lot of name calling,” Martines said, “and there have been physical altercations as well. Kids fighting, punching in the face — even to the point that there’s been some blood. These are kids from kindergarten to fifth grade. We really wanted them to know that when you get angry you don’t have to handle situations in that way.”
Martines says changes in technology are a contributing factor to the student behavior.
“When I was little, we didn’t have access to cellphones and tablets,” Martines said. “I was outside playing all the time and now these kids are on their computers — they’re playing their video games. They don’t have those interactive social skills and when they lack those social skills, that’s when they start lacking the ability to interact with kids their age.”
Andee Grisby, school counselor at Claude Perkins Elementary, embraced No Place For Hate at her school with a week of class discussion on celebrating differences.
“We did activities every day where each classroom celebrated peace,” Grisby said. “And at the end we had a school-wide peace sign out in our field. The kids still talk about it. I see them stopping and thinking now. I see them acting more kindly toward one another. I see them really taking the ideals that we’ve put forward and using them. I can hear the language. They say, “ ‘This is a No Place for Hate. You’re supposed to be kind.’ ”
No Place For Hate originated in New York’s ADL office, and according to Katrina Sandigo, education director at the Anti-Defamation League of Nevada, the Walk Against Hate was created as a way “for people in the community to physically take a step in the right direction, coming together as a community to demonstrate how they feel about bullying.”
“I field phone calls every day from families and students who are on the receiving end of bullying,” Sandigo said. “They are kids who want to go school and learn but they are being picked on day-in and day-out. And they feel like there’s not anything being done. I think it’s important because we provide a voice to kids who need that extra voice.”
Sandigo said that teaching students anti-bias values at young ages helps to positively mold their futures.
“I think in the long run, programming and education like this creates a better society for all of us,” Sandigo said. “If we teach our kids early on to respect one another — to have empathy and passion toward each other — when these kids are adults, we’ll see the benefits of that in our own community.”
At Ronzone, the No Place For Hate initiative has proven effective, as bullying incidents are declining.
“From the beginning of the year to where we’re at currently, there haven’t been as many incidents,” Martines said. “The more that I discuss it, the more we talk about it within the classrooms, kids are recognizing what it is.”
“It’s a repetitive process, but if we keep (it up) on a daily basis, hopefully it sticks with them,” Martines said. “It’s super important. (The students) are sponges right now. They are taking in everything. This age group is where you have to start.”
Contact Mia Sims at msims@reviewjournal.com. Follow @miasims__ on Twitter.
