Councilwoman Christine Liu is moving to combat bullying in North Hempstead through a month-long art-centric campaign focused on the town’s students.
“The ultimate goal of this campaign is to really empower students of all ages, to teach them to develop strong voices of their own, so that they can set a powerful example to foster unity among their peers,” Liu said. “I want every student in our town, especially in my district, to be able to meaningfully express themselves and have the confidence and energy to help their community and that we can ultimately all collectively stand up against hate together.”
The campaign, which runs through October, National Bullying Prevention Month, is focused on educating students on what bullying is, providing them a space to share their experiences, pushing them to pledge not to engage in the hurtful practice and empowering them to stand up for themselves and others through art making.
“I feel like the most important thing is that kids can express themselves. Sometimes they may not feel that their voices are very strong or they’re not being heard when they’re getting bullied,” Liu said. “I think any kind of art form is a wonderful and healthy way for kids to express themselves in a non-intrusive way. It’s on their own time frame and in their own abilities and talents.”
Liu is holding banner-making, antibullying pledge and education events for elementary students at Clinton G. Martin Park from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 17, Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 at the picnic tables near the playground. Students will pledge to be a good friend and learn how to act against bullying, whether that means actively including someone being bullied or telling an adult about bullying that’s happening.
“Once we go through that promise and pledge together, then they will all dip their hand into paint and then put their hand print on the canvas, and then they’ll write their name and how old they are on the canvas,” Liu said. “Afterwards, we will have this beautiful canvas with everybody’s colorful fingerprints on it to say that we’re trying our best to stand together against bullying.”
The canvas will be hung in the park’s community building or town hall.
Her office has also opened an online portal for middle and high school students to submit original photography, poetry, writing, painting or other artwork about bullying or highlighting the values of kindness, integrity and respect, which will be posted to her official Instagram account and newsletter
“We hope they can demonstrate a personal experience in their life or how to be more inclusive, how to be more kind, how to be more of an upstander, and basically tell their story, she said. “They could include their name, but it could also be anonymous.”
Liu said the idea for the initiative came about “very organically” and was developed in collaboration with her high school and college interns. She said she was first inspired by a high school student in her district, who she met at a civic association picnic over the summer and showed her an animated video he had made about bullying.
“I just thought the video really thoughtfully explored what constitutes bullying and offered a creative and uplifting message on how to redirect this negative energy…into acts of kindness and support for others,” Liu said. “I started talking to my interns over the summer and they confirmed that bullying is alive and well.
She said she was “heartbroken” to learn that over 30% of teenagers experienced or are currently experiencing some form of bullying, whether it’s online or in person, and about what her interns had to say about this trend.
“It was really heartbreaking to hear about how this bullying has evolved over the last decade or two,” Liu said. “It went from teasing on the playground, maybe taking your lunch money back when I was growing up, to now, where children’s homes are getting targeted and vandalized, and vicious rumors and pictures are being shared online, which opens up people to being bullied by the masses, and that’s just insufferable.”
Liu said she hopes to expand the initiative next year to include the development of permanent “Upstander Clubs” at schools in her district, to hold art-making events at schools in her district and hang the banners and pledges on school walls to drive the message home to students.
She said she hopes the program “takes off” this year and that people are motivated to participate to support their community.
“Participating means that you want to help be a strong voice in your community,” Liu said. “Sometimes it’s hard doing it alone, but together it’s much more powerful. We have to stand together against bullying, because it’s very lonely trying to do that by yourself.”
