Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor | Poster campaign to promote kindness and stigmatize bullying

Going to the Peninsula School School Board meetings for a year to talk about Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) issues has taken a lot of time and energy for many, myself included. As the HIB issues continue into the 24-25 school year, it seems not much has improved in our schools and action from those with decision-making power has been lacking. A whole slew of students spoke at the September 10th school board meeting, citing cyberbullying as a rampant issue — to the extent that one of our amazing teachers is no longer comfortable teaching in our district and several students opted to switch to the alternative “school of choice,” Henderson Bay High School.

Hearing multiple voices in the aftermath of that meeting, one person reflected: “This isn’t just a school district problem; this is a community problem.” Based on some of the vicious commentary I’ve seen online in Gig Harbor, it would seem “keyboard warriors” hiding behind secondary incognito accounts are proving this point. Just today I saw racist posts about Indigenous Peoples’ Day from Gig Harbor residents.

Kitsap Safe School Network is an organization that began 20 years ago to combat bullying in the South Kitsap School District. While they had the people, resources, and connections to do so much within their district, one of the small movements from them was creating and distributing anti-bullying posters. After initiating a meeting with a representative from Kitsap Safe School Network a couple of weeks ago, I decided to adopt their poster idea for Gig Harbor. The hope is to supply willing teachers, businesses, and community gathering places with Pro-Kindness/Anti-Bullying posters. A simple visual reminder in our everyday lives that a culture of kindness is a group effort might get people thinking and talking about what they can do to encourage that.

To start that campaign, I’m asking for submissions from elementary, middle, and high-school-aged students to share their pro-kindness/anti-bullying art. From the submissions, selecting one from each age group, I will be printing off these posters and distributing them to any person, business, or organization who wants to hang them in solidarity with those of us in Gig Harbor who are ready to see bullying reports decrease, and for kindness to become the norm in our community. (sign up here: https://forms.gle/7vjSCJyoJU8EB8EK6 )

I invite anyone in the community interested in participating in this effort to connect with me. Sharing ideas and assistance with local distribution of these posters would be a tremendous help. Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Aria Messer

Gig Harbor

Gig Harbor Now accepts signed letters to the editor of up to 800 words or fewer from area residents. Submit them to [email protected].

Gig Harbor Now accepts signed letters to the editor of up to about 800 words. Submit them on the Contact form by selecting “Letter to the Editor” from the Purpose dropdown.