At Lafayette High School, Anti-Bullying Prevention Spirit Week was held, with five unique prompts for students to follow. Anti-bullying spirit week followed a fantastic homecoming spirit week, as it was held from October 16th to October 20th. October is National Anti-Bullying Month, so many schools participated in showing their spirit for the cause. Not all schools in the U.S. participated in the same week as Lafayette, but lots have already done it or have plans for an upcoming anti-bullying spirit week. Both students and teachers at Lafayette rallied behind the anti-bullying sentiment, creating unity over an important cause. The prompts were fun and easy, so everyone in the building could easily participate.
Starting with Monday, students were asked to wear crazy or mismatched socks. This day was cleverly labeled “sock-it-to-bullying” day. This was the easiest day to participate in, and I found that most people did participate. Students paired their crazy socks with many kinds of shoes; Crocs, Birkenstocks, or if they were wearing long socks, they were able to pull off some various tennis shoes. This day was a great day to kick off the week, as it gave students a way to show off their spirit uniquely but subtlety.
To continue the spirit, Tuesday was Pajama Day. Students came to school in the clothes they slept in and loved it! It is common for Lafayette attendees to come in their “PJs”, but this day gave them an opportunity to match with everyone. For the students who do not often wear pajamas to school, this gave them a day off from outfit planning. People came in a variety of pajama styles, from plaid pajamas to character themed pajama pants. Pajama day was the most needed day this week, as it created a restful and chill environment at school.
Wednesday was “Unity Day”, where everyone at school wore orange. Orange represents showing young people getting bullied that they are not alone. This prompt created a lot of opportunities for students to wear fun attire. They could be as simple as they wished, or they could go as crazy as they wanted. Many opted for just an orange shirt, or an orange accessory. While some wore all orange, and even wore face paint. “Unity Day” was wonderful for students as they had a range of spirit, they could participate in depending on their comfort level.
“Team up against bullying day” was on Thursday, everyone was asked to wear a jersey or some sort of team shirt. Students could either wear their own team or wear a team they liked. Many American football jerseys were worn, but I also saw a few premier league jerseys. This was the most straightforward day, but it allowed students to show their interests. Students could share teams they are apart of, or just teams they admire. The message behind “Team up against bullying day” was also extremely motivational, as it shows that we as a school can rally behind helping each other.
Finally, a more lighthearted prompt was asked of the students and teachers on Friday. Students were asked to dress like teachers, while teachers were asked to dress as students. Teachers especially had fun with this day as they got to playfully mock their students. I found that not a lot of students participated on this day, but the ones that did went all out. One thing I noticed was teachers represented students by wearing pajamas and by having their phones out, poking fun at a common high school student stereotype. This day created a day for students and teachers to bond in a fun way, and to make some jokes that may not be allowed on a normal day.
