JANUARY 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 45
FAMILY & EDUCATION
ACTS OF KINDNESS
UPSTANDING STUDENTS
BY JOAN MACNAUGHTON
One of the ultimate acts of kindness
a student in middle school can do is to
stand up and protect another student.
At The De La Salle School in Freeport,
one such great act took place
when six students came to the defense
of a classmate who was being targeted
by three fellow students. These six
students stood up for their classmate
by telling their teacher what they
knew and wanted to stop.
It is said that there is strength in
numbers, but still it takes great courage
in today’s schools for students to stand
up against the class bullies. These six
young men did just that, and in doing
so changed another student’s life.
The six students didn’t stop there.
When sitting and reflecting on their
actions, they spoke of the term given
to a person who tells on another, the
word “snitch.” They thought that the
act should be made into a positive
These De La Salle students students are encouraging their classmates to stand up to bullies.
experience to empower students to
do the right thing.
So together, every day at lunch they
set out to do just that, to come up with
an acronym that would encourage
other students to stand up for their
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classmates, too. The end result of
this conversation was the acronym
Standing Protecting Empowering
Actions of Kindness Uniting Peers
(SPEAK UP).
The students designed a poster to
display the acronym for students of
the school to have as a daily reminder.
The words SPEAK UP are now displayed
in the hallway and assembly
room, as a simple and daily reminder
for all students to follow.
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