Keeping bullying out of Burris

By: Alex Nancarrow

Some schools surrounding Burris have been put in the spotlight recently because of students putting their peers in danger.

Muncie Central High School had an alleged rape case last November. Former principal Christopher Smith was been charged with a Class B misdemeanor for failure to immediately report child abuse or neglect with a maximum jail term of 180 days. The 16-year-old male suspect was allowed to go home after the incident but has since been charged with rape.

More recently, a student attending Blue River High School was arrested last Thursday and preliminarily charged with two counts of sexual battery. He was then released into his parents’ custody and allowed back in school the next day. One of the victims has not returned to school since the incident because the mother did not want to put her in a dangerous situation.

Burris has been making a point of trying to keep students safe while educating them on the dangers of bullying. A few weeks ago Burris held a “No Name-Calling Week” where students chose not to offend each other and refrain from name-calling. There is also a bulletin board at the south entrance of Burris with the title “No Room for Name Calling at Burris” and it gives instructions on how to stay S.A.F.E. if bullied; S – say what you feel, A – ask for help, F – find a friend, and E – exit the area. There are also pledges posted around the board where students promise not to call names, intervene safely when students are being called names, and support efforts to end bullying and name calling. Burris senior Jennifer Watkins was asked why it is important to keep bullying and name calling out of school and said, “Adolescence is hard enough, you don’t need to be preoccupied by name-calling and other forms of bullying.”