Friday, Sep. 18, 2009

West students hear about anti-bully efforts, NFL player steps up

BELLEVILLE -- On Friday morning, students at Belleville West High School watched their peers, principal and a pro football player talk about stopping the bullies.

"We're going to deal with bad behavior and we're going to deal with it aggressively, maybe more aggressively than we ever have before," Belleville West Principal Bob Dahm said.

The video shown in every classroom discussed the school's anti-bullying STOP (Students and Teachers Offering Protection) program. Included was a message from former Rams linebacker Chris Draft encouraging students to rise to the challenge after the negative effects of the school bus attacks and media coverage.

Draft contacted the school offering help after the bus attack. He was unable to be present Friday but taped his message and left boxes of Rams items for Dahm to hand out as rewards for doing the right things.

Dahm said students have been thanking him since the positive messages were broadcast.

"It's not really our school," Dahm said. "It's a couple of people who acted poorly and were not right, but it's not Belleville West."

Dahm wanted to tell parents "that we're going to continue to be strong and stay committed to working with them and provide them with an environment to allow their sons and daughters to receive a great education."

The attack on a Belleville West school bus on Monday evoked sympathy and support for the 17-year-old victim. A Swansea woman offered to help him pay for private school for the remainder of high school.

"So many of us were just heartbroken to see this," said Katherine Ruocco, a lawyer and former Swansea mayoral candidate. "If we can maybe reach out, it can make a little bit of a difference."

Ruocco brainstormed with a colleague about the possibility of enlisting other lawyers to donate funds. She thought she could easily raise $5,000 to $10,000 -- more than enough to cover the cost of tuition at a private school.

She said the victim and his family may not be interested in transferring schools or that they may not need financial assistance in doing so.

"I want them to know we as a community are interested in helping their child," she said. "We think we should all come together to help him."

If the family is interested, Ruocco said they can contact her through e-mail: CommunityForUnity@gmail.com.

She said, "I would like for this child to come out in a positive way."