Q&A: Bullies hurt ‘entire community’

PUBLISHED: November 7, 2011
WRITTEN BY:  JAMES CRAVEN, The Norwich Bulletin
www.norwichbulletin.com/story/news/local/2011/11/08/q-bullies-hurt-entire-community/65016988007/ 

Deb Kievits is volunteer coordinator for the local Bully-Busters, a job she does with relish because of the importance she believes it has to the community. A native of Norwich, Kievits is a single mother of two teenagers, Jonathan and Katherine. When not working with the Bully-Busters organization, she likes to go on walks and also enjoys gardening.

Q What is Bully-Busters?

A Bully-Busters is a grassroots organization that is trying to prevent bullying in our schools and our community. To help us get there, Bully-Busters provides positive activities for the youth in our communities, at little or no cost to them.

Q How did the Bully-Busters get started here in Norwich?

A The local Bully-Busters was started in 2003 by a group of parents, youth and local agencies looking for a way to stop violence and the effect on kids who are being bullied.

Q How many young people are involved, and is it a school-based initiative?

A There are many youth that have been in our programs and activities. The Norwich schools are part of the coalition that has come together to make an organization like Bully-Busters possible. This is a community-based initiative because bullying is not just a school issue, but something that affects an entire community. This is a nationwide issue that needs to be addressed daily. We have Bully-Buster groups in Texas, Arkansas and Niantic.

Q What does Bully-Busters hope to accomplish?

A We hope to put an end to bullying, and to get our individual community members to become what we call “Up Standers” and speak out against the problem of bullying. It’s important to remember that being bullied just doesn’t happen to youngsters, but from birth to adulthood.

Q Is it an adult-run program, or do the young people have roles in its leadership?

A This program is run by volunteers, which consist of parents, students and local agencies. Many of the young people involved in Bully-Busters have leadership roles in the local organization. They often are the ones responsible for running and directing some of the programs and activities that they have helped to create for the organization and for the community.

Q Many people dismiss the problem of bullying. How big a problem is it?

A They should not dismiss it as not being a problem in this community or anywhere else. We have too many young people who, unfortunately, commit suicide or who withdraw from school, their community, their friends and their school because of the problem of bullying. This also happens in the workplace for many adults, which can, in some situations, lead to the problem of workplace violence.

Q Is the program showing tangible results in the community?

A Yes. We have seen many important results just by making sure the issue stays in the forefront of the community’s consciousness. We have had many young people that have come to us after they have bullied someone else, and who then realized the impact of what the harm was in their actions. We have given students the tools to combat and to deal with bullying and bullies. We have worked with state legislators on the state’s bullying law, which has become a useful tool for parents and the schools.