Kappa Omicron Nu is launching an initiative to raise awareness to stop bullying in the local community. The initiative is multi-faceted, involving a web-seminar open to students and an educational experience for children in the Searcy area.
“Bullying is a growing thing in our school district; it’s a big issue,” project leader Danielle Morton said. “I think it goes into the community, so public awareness is good.”
Dr. Beth Wilson, faculty advisor for Kappa Omicron Nu, said, “The primary goal of the initiative is to create a culture that promotes kindness and discourages bullying.”
“We’ll be hosting a national webinar which addresses bullying,” Wilson said. “We will also have some round-table discussions following the presentation.”
Anyone is welcome to attend the webinar, and education, family and consumer sciences and social work majors are encouraged to do so.
“It’s something that they can help with in their line of work,” Morton said.
In addition to hosting the webinar, Kappa Omicron Nu also plans on giving a fun, educational presentation to kids in the community.
“We plan to teach a class for children primarily based on Ephesians 4:32, ‘Be kind to one another,’ and on the Golden Rule.” Wilson said.
Morton and Wilson said they believe that the community has an obligation, and now another opportunity, to make Searcy a better place.
“I can’t say that I can prevent bullying myself, but what I can do is look at what it could be in our local community that might be contributing to it,” Wilson said. “I think certainly being aware that someone is bullying someone else, we have a golden opportunity to find out why. Do they have needs that are not being met? Are they being bullied?”
Part of the bullying initiative will be giving people who are bullying or being bullied the resources they need and to point them in the direction of getting help.
Kappa Omicron Nu is the honors society for the Family and Consumer Sciences department. The Harding chapter, Nu Delta, was chartered in 1995.
“High ethical and moral standards are expected (of members),” Wilson said. “The organization does a lot in ethical studies.”
Harding’s chapter was one of two schools in the nation to be awarded grant funding.
“We want to encourage people to be kind and accepting,” Wilson said. “That’s all it takes.”
Details for the webinar will be announced at a later date. If anyone has any further questions, they can contact Wilson at bwilson@harding.edu.
