MURILLO – Members of the Thunder Bay Police Service made a colourful donation to Crestview Public School on Wednesday.
Sporting bright pink dress shirts to stand up to bullying, officers dropped off a friendship bench for students to use to signal they need someone to talk to about any number of problems they might be facing in their every-day lives.
The bench, inspired by Florida teen Acacia Woodley, who was bullied as a child for her diminutive size, is a welcome addition to the rural school, said 12-year-old Katherine Deschenes, a Grade 7 student at Crestview.
“We’re going to put it out in the hallway to show all the kids and parents and everyone that we don’t support bullying and we want to stop it,” Katherine said. “We support the people that are being bullied and we want to make it so they are happy and it just stops.”
Unfortunately, despite the small size of her school, bullying still happens in the hallways and on the playground.
A friend of Katherine’s was targeted more than once.
“She’s one of my best friends. There’s a few kids here who have been bullied that I know of,” she said. “Just because it’s a small area doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen.”
Having a friendship bench is a step toward a solution, Katherine added.
“Definitely,” she said.
Police Chief J.P. Levesque said it was the Thunder Bay Police Association whose members came up with the idea for the bench donation.
“If you’re having a tough day, and maybe somebody is picking on you a little bit, come have a seat and hopefully a friend will join you. Maybe you make a new friend, but you’ve got somebody to support you,” Levesque said.
“It’s like a peer-support system. We thought it was a great idea.”
Levesque said it’s something they hope to bring to other schools as money becomes available.
Crestview principal Joanne Giertuga said raising awareness about bullying is one of the best ways to prevent it from happening.
The bench has other uses too, she said.
“It’s basically saying they need a friend."
