Trunks for Teachers, a CYPRESS program, is tackling the bullying issue

by Katie Darby, Evansville Courier & Press

School-aged bullies have been dominating the news for the last several months. Middle school and high school have gotten progressively more emotionally dangerous, so much so that many students are resorting to violence—either against others or themselves.

The Committee to Promote Respect in Schools (or CYPRESS, as it's more commonly known) is taking action. Though CYPRESS started out as a committee to promote global tolerance and respect by using "teaching trunks" on the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement, they now have zeroed in on educating teachers and students about the harm of bullying.

"Bullying is so prevalent these days," said Sue Barancik, the Trunks for Teachers Coordinator. "Sometimes it's just name calling, but sometimes kids feel like they have to commit suicide to escape."

The idea behind Trunks for Teachers is that CYPRESS collects information—novels, non-fiction articles and books, articles, and information about Web resources—and then compiles that information into a trunk.

They are left at the Evansville Courier & Press, and teachers and educators from around the region then can contact Barancik at trunksforteachers@yahoo.com to book their time with the trunk.

"Each trunk also has a notebook of all kinds of guides of teaching the specific books, online resources—different articles in the New York Times on bullying, for example. There are DVDs and videos, and a lot of books just for the teachers' reference," Barancik said.

The key to understanding and stopping bullying in the schools is knowledge, she added.

"There are three components, really — the bully, the person being bullied, and the third component is the trickier part, that's the bystander.They don't bully, but don't stop it. They won't stand up and say something is going wrong, won't tell a teacher or an adult, and they are the passive observer. We're trying to get people not to be bystanders."

But it's not just about educating the teachers about how to spot warning signs and how to eliminate passive acceptance of bullying.

It's about teaching children to manage the social aspect of their school years and how to process what's going on around them.

A lot of material in the trunks is just for students. "The kids' material give a picture of the ramifications of being a bully," Barancik said.

By asking themselves questions such as, "How did this person get hurt?" and "How do my peers feel when they are targeted?" Trunks for Teachers is encouraging not just a more sympathetic learning environment, but a more empathetic one, according to CYPRESS.

The organization has been in existence since 1999, but its emphasis on bullying is new. They plan a fall 2011 program to discuss how to eradicate bullying.

As for the trunks, Barancik said, "They are available, they're free, and there are all kind of resources, a plethora of material, and it's just one step closer to possibly helping to relieve the problem in some way."

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/nov/02/no-headline---02b05trunks/