On Unity Day, Allentown schools fight back against bullying

• Allentown School District held Unity Day events at its 15 elementary schools on Wednesday
• The message at each school focused on bullying prevention, as October is National Bullying Prevention Month
• 1 in 5 students reports being bullied, a national survey showed

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Maybe it was because he was short for his age. Maybe it was because he wore glasses. Maybe it was both.

Whatever the reason, the 8-year-old third-grader was the target of the school bully — older, bigger, perhaps having experienced being bullied himself — during bus rides.

Two decades later, the emotional wound has faded, but the scar remains.

“This other kid started leaning into me, squishing me against the seat,” WeDifferent President Justin Millan recalled on Wednesday morning at a Unity Day event at Central Elementary School.

It was among 15 elementary school anti-bullying events held in the Allentown School District.

“I felt like my collarbones were going to cave in,” Millan said, his eyes squinting as he recalled the pain. “I’ve never forgotten that, what it was like to be bullied.”

Phil Gianficaro

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LehighValleyNews.com

Two decades later, Millan used that scar to educate elementary school children in Allentown School District about bullying — about how to deal with a bully, about how to deal with one who is bullying someone else.

About how and whom to ask for help.

Bully for Millan.

‘We talk to them about unity’

WeDifferent is a Lehigh Valley youth flag football organization. Founded in 2020, it has gained national renown by having won several national championships.

Millan and his staff harness the power of football — of teamwork, of people of different races, creeds, sizes and backgrounds working together instead of against one another — to instruct youngsters on bullying awareness.

“We talk to them about unity,” Millan said. “To treat your neighbor like you’d want to be treated.”

On Wednesday, the anti-bullying message was delivered at a concrete playground adjacent to Central Elementary School.

About 120 fourth-graders sat at the playground in rapt attention as members of the WeDifferent team addressed them.

Guest speaker Pastor Jonathan Beasley, formerly of Life Church Allentown and a childhood friend of Millan, is a burly, bearded man with a bigger-than-life personality.

His infectious personality held the students’ focus in the palm of his hand.

“What type of cereal do you like?” Beasley asked.

The answers came back: Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, Lucky Charms, Fruity Pebbles, Corn flakes.

“OK, now what if you could only have corn flakes and water for the rest of your life?” Beasley asked. “That would suck, right? Having a bunch of different foods would be better, that would make you happy, right?”

The kids agreed.

“Well, the same is true about people,” Beasley said. “We’re all different. We all look different whether you’re black, white, purple, whatever. Life is better when we come together.”

The toll of bullying

Millan and his staff, assisted by a few players from the Allen High School football team, ran the students through football drills after their bullying presentation.

But the key message on Unity Day was tackling the troubling issue of bullying.

• According to a 2019 survey by the National Center for Educational Statistics, 1 in 5 students reports being bullied
• 41% of bullied students indicated they fear bullying will happen again
• Bullying is inflicted by name calling, insults, rumors, physical intimidation and intentional exclusion from social activities

Experts report that both victims and perpetrators of bullying have higher rates of psychiatric disorders than do those uninvolved in bullying.

Victims of bullying have higher rates of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, bedwetting and sleep problems. Perpetrators of bullying have higher rates of depression and antisocial behavior.

Allentown School District uses the Olweus Program for Bullying Prevention in every grade level.

‘Show the students how to be unified’

Olweus is a comprehensive approach to bullying prevention that includes schoolwide, classroom, individual and community components.

The program is focused on long-term change that creates a safe and positive school climate.

The program’s goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among students and to improve peer relations within the schools.

It has been found to reduce bullying among students, improve the social climate of classrooms and reduce related antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism and truancy.

The Olweus Program has been implemented in more than a dozen countries around the world, and in thousands of schools in the United States.

Central Elementary School Principal Rebecca Bodnar said events such as the WeDiffferent program, which supplement the district policy, are invaluable in addressing bullying.

“These kinds of programs show the students how to be unified when it comes to bullying,” said Bodnar, who added that the school district holds committee meetings each month that address bullying.

Held in conjunction with October being National Bullying Prevention Month, Unity Day was a day to wear and share the color orange as a visual representation or uniting of kindness, acceptance and inclusion to prevent bullying.

The WeDifferent staff, teachers and many students donned orange shirts in support of the message.

WeDifferent Vice President Jason Solarek thanked Millan for saving his life.

Solarek, 49, a Lehigh Valley native, said he had gone down life’s dark road — and didn’t know how to shift into reverse.

Now, Solarek uses his second chance at a good life to help kids.

“What color someone else is doesn’t matter,” he told the students. “Don’t prejudge someone because they don’t look like you. Just don’t.

“Get to know them. You’ll find you’ll have a lot more in common than you ever imagined.”