WACO, Texas — October is Bullying Prevention Month. While bullying is a growing issue nationwide, at Waco ISD, the district is doing their part to ensure it's not happening on their campuses.
"You have to start young, so they know the difference between bullying and just normal childhood behavior," Kendrick Elementary School Counselor Dina Hoffman told 25 News.
Counselors teach the students three steps to take if they experience bullying; talk, walk, or tell.
"Talking with the bully would just be saying, 'I don't like how you're treating me,' — walking would just be, 'You're not going to bother me,' and walking away from the situation," Hoffman said.
"Then telling would be talking to a trusted adult."
While it's important to teach how to respond to bullies, counselors like Hoffman say it's even more important to prevent bullies from forming by teaching about kindness.
"When we show kindness and friendship to other people, there's less of a chance to have bullies in our school," Hoffman said.
Students at Kendrick Elementary were introduced to a game on Tuesday that encouraged inclusion. It was similar to musical chairs, but instead of getting their classmates out each round they were encouraged to find ways to keep everyone in the game.
Gabriel is a second-grade student who says he really enjoyed the game and the deeper behind it.
"They told us to not be bullies, and I kind of had made up my own," Gabriel said.
"If you're good you'll get more rewards, but if you're bullying and you have a reward, the teacher will probably take it away."
Gabriel said he tries hard to be kind and thinks everyone should do the same.
"I'm not really a bully, I'm a very nice guy," he said.
Counselors want to remind parents if they believe their kids are being bullied at school to bring that to the school staff's attention so they can address those concerns.
