6
QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 17, 2019
Newtown High School students take
pledge to stand up against cyberbullying
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BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Students at Newtown
High School in Elmhurst
are pledging to stand up
against cyberbullying.
AT&T, the Tyler Clementi
Foundation and Siena
College teamed up with
Newtown High School Feb.
6 to host the AT&T and Siena
Upstander Program, a
cyberbullying peer-to-peer
prevention program expanding
to public schools
across New York in 2019.
“Newtown is excited to
work with AT&T and Siena
college on this project. Our
students are active on the
internet and we firmly believe
that this training will
help to keep them safe,”
said Pablo Ocampo, assistant
principal of Security at
Newtown High School. “We
are training students from
our six Small Learning
Communities and expect
them to work with peers to
promote internet safety and
prevent cyberbullying.”
Six Siena students
worked with 40 selected
student leaders during
two workshop sessions at
Newtown High School —
located 48-01 90th St. — to
train them on how to be
Upstander ambassadors
to speak up against the
negative behavior.
Students discussed the
use of social media, past
cyberbullying experiences,
and participated in an active
workshop, before a screening
of a student-created film
produced by AT&T for its
Cyberbullying Film Invitational
to showcase unique
and personal experiences
with cyberbullying and its
devastating aftermath.
“A bystander is someone
who just sits and watches
the bullying take place,
but an upstander really
steps in and stops it,” said
Rebecca Goldstein, student
coordinator of the Siena
Upstander Program.
“As technology grows
more and more, it really
becomes a thing in high
schools and in middle
schools, and even now
we’re seeing it in elementary
schools, and I think for
us to address it would be a
way to hopefully stop it and
at least help some of the students
who are experiencing
it,” Goldstein added.
This is the second ambassadors
program in
New York City to date and
the first in Queens. The
program brings Siena students
to schools to help
educate students, teachers
and school administrators
about online safety and
provide workshops, tools
and resources to combat
cyberbullying.
Created in 2017 in reaction
to the results of a study
which revealed that one
in two students have been
a victim of cyberbullying
in New York City, the program’s
goal is to empower
students to stand up to
negative online behavior,
combat cyberbullying and
become Upstander ambassadors
within their schools
and communities.
“The one thing that is
really easy to do is changing
the culture within
schools,” said Benjamin
Roberts, director of Public
Affairs at AT&T. “Most
students want to be bystanders
or are bystanders,
and that’s not any fault by
themselves…they just don’t
want to be the next victim
or don’t know what to do.
If you change, more people
would be upstanders…
those are the ones that will
interact, console, and report
the cyberbullying.”
Newtown High School
student Anil Maihepat, who
was bullied in middle school,
said the youth have the ability
and opportunity to speak
up against bullying.
“When I was younger,
I went through depression
and I use to harm myself a
lot and I received help,” said
Maihepat. “I got a lot better
from that, like when people
tell me something mean I
don’t take it on anymore.”
Another Newtown High
School student Nyeisha
Telfer, says she feels the
need to help others who
may be experiencing some
form of bullying.
“No matter what someone
tells you, you should
always have an open mind
that nothing is wrong with
you. You may be different,
but your made different,”
said Telfer. “Your specifically
picked and chosen and
created the way you are for
a reason, and you should
never doubt yourself or
feel like there’s something
wrong with you personally
because you’re not like everyone
else because in anyway
you’re still beautiful
just like everybody else.”
The Upstander ambassador
peer-to-peer training program
joins a first-of-its-kind
online safety pilot program,
ScreenReady, that AT&T
launched in New York City
in late 2018 after a new study
found children and teens are
spending more time than
ever online and on their mobile
devices – and engaging
in risky behaviors without
their parents’ knowledge.
Both ScreenReady and the
AT&T and Siena Upstander
Program are being expanded
to public schools as an extension
of AT&T Believes, a larger
Company-wide initiative
which aims to create positive
change in local communities.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4526.
Newtown High School students participate in workshops and role playing exercises to
gain skills and confidence to stand up to online bullying and keep their peers safe.
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed
/www.TimesLedger.com
/www.TimesLedger.com
