By Charlie Deitz
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-961800.mp3
Pittsfield, MA – High school students in Berkshire County are taking a lead role in the effort to curb bullying in all its forms by reaching out to 8th grade students. WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief Charlie Deitz has the report.
The Berkshire County Youth Advisory Board is a program run through the District Attorney's office, on Tuesday this group of overachieving high school upperclassmen put together a youth leadership conference called STRIVE, an acronym for Students Teaching Respect Integrity Values and Equality. They hosted a couple hundred 8th graders from all over the county to help make the transition into high school a little easier, and to help them avoid common pitfalls. A main focus of the day revolved around cyber safety and security, and for that the group brought in Sergeant Steve Del Negro, the Commander of the State's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, he spent nearly an hour teaching the adolescents about seemingly innocent mistakes that could lead to trouble.
"I'm finding out that tonight you're going to the park to meet your friends,I know what you're wearing and where you're going."
The students were shy to ask questions or engage the officer, and Del Negro is well aware that a cop speaking to a group of 13 and 14 year olds may not be as persuasive as a peer doing it, but he stays at it.
"I try to bring it at a level that they will come away with a couple things."
After that session, the young adults were split into groups of about 50 and sent into smaller rooms to get a crash course on high school from a handful of the advisory board members.
And they were even made to play a couple of games, like "cross the line". Students stood along a strand of police tape and had to cross over if their favorite color was blue, or if they liked summer, once they got the hang of it, the mentors got a little more serious.
"Cross the line if you've seen another student being bullied and did nothing about it."
Pretty much everyone crossed the line. Afterward Taconic High School senior Mike talked about wanting to address the issue in a way that the younger kids could understand.
"We had the idea of this because we saw it first hand, its common around here."
And Mount Everett Senior Laura knows that adults don't have the same impact on these young teenagers as the upperclassmen can have.
"It's influential both ways, we're reliving our past, they're learning how to relive our lives."
Toward the end of the day was the long awaited lunch hour. I sat with a group of eight graders from south Berkshire county. Even though most of these young people were shy and awkward at the sessions, they admitted that even the sergeant's speech resonated with them.
"This went into detail."
And a couple more added that it was in fact helpful to hear from seniors and juniors in high school.
"People with different lives still have the same feelings."
The Youth Advisory Board hopes to pass the torch to the next batch of secondary school students, and that the impact of the day's efforts will translate to a better adjusted freshmen class that's comfortable calling out bullying on the schoolyard and in cyberspace.