EVANSVILLE - Thompkins Middle School physical education and health teacher Bryant Mosbey understands what it's like to be bullied. Being a tall kid — he now stands at 6 feet 8 inches — Mosbey was mocked about his height by fellow students with "How is the weather up there?" and "Jolly Green Giant."
So he immediately wanted to help with a new anti-bullying initiative called HEART (Helping Everyone with Anti-Bullying, Respect and Tolerance).
The Committee to Promote Respect in Schools (CYPRESS) announced HEART Thursday morning at Thompkins Middle School. HEART is a collection of tools, activities and materials written by teachers and community members and designed to prevent school bullying. The materials are appropriate for all age groups, come in a range of skill levels and are based on educational standards designed to give children and teachers practical ways to ward off bullies and foster respect in the classroom.
Mosbey said it's a way to empower not only the people being bullied, but also the bystanders by informing them how to respond. He said many people think being male, you can't be the victim of bullying because you're supposed to be stronger and have thick skin, but he said those comments growing up did hurt and it's hard not to take them personally.
"I like that these lessons give people the power to feel like they can truly fight back without using the word fight," Mosbey said. "By using words telling them to stop or by talking to adults or counselors. Especially here in middle school when everything is about popularity, when students are looking how they can fit in, this is a way they can fit in."
Founded in 1999, CYPRESS is composed of current and retired educators and community volunteers, and its mission is to build respect and appreciation for diversity in schools and community. CYPRESS members and individuals with the EVSC and the Catholic Diocese of Evansville worked together to write the curriculum for use at school, home or anywhere.
Two years was spent researching anti-bullying approaches and organizers discovered there were many definitions of bullying, but not many practical ways to prevent it. It was funded using the proceeds from the performances of "Brundibar" CYPRESS sponsored last year.
A group of three sixth grade girls at Thompkins, Zoe Woebkenberg, Hadley Fisher and Rebekah Robards spent three days writing an anti-bullying song to the tune of "Hey Mickey" and using figurative language. Some lyrics include, "Hey, bully, you're so mean, you're so mean you rude machine; hey, bully, punch, punch you think you are so cool when you are really not. You talk behind our backs when you know it's wrong."
The HEART materials are available to the public for free on the CYPRESS website at cypressevansville.org.
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