ELDON — Hundreds of Cardinal students took an oath Friday to stand up for their peers and put an end to bullying as the school officially became Safe School Certified. The ceremony comes after nearly four years of hard work from both high school students and Cardinal employees.
"Safe School Certification isn't saying that there is going to be no more bullying here at Cardinal, but it is saying that there are processes in place to keep kids safe and comfortable in schools," said Cardinal High School Principal Jeremy Hissem. "We have processes in place to be proactive when it comes to bullying."
Students in grades 5-12 attended the ceremony to learn about how being certified will positively impact their school experience. A leadership team of students in various grades meet twice a month to discuss the topic and will begin going to the Cardinal Elementary School to teach younger kids about how to deal with conflict effectively.
"We are going to address bullying and investigate every claim reported by a student. Right now, we have three bully investigators and two more are getting trained, myself included," explained Hissem.
Iowa's Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harrasment Act of 2007 required all school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to adopt a policy addressing the subject. Bullying is defined as electronic [cyber], written, verbal or physical act or conduct toward a student that creates a hostile school environment.
Although Cardinal had the state policy protecting its students, Heather Buckley, principal of Cardinal Elementary School, wanted to take the policy one step further and began working on becoming Safe School Certified. In order to become certified, the Safe School Certification program must be able to see that a school is working to put their policy into effect.
"This isn't just a certification; this is so much more than that, something you can be proud of. You can have an anti-bullying or anti-harassment policy, but it doesn't do anything if you don't enforce that policy," said Brent Robins, director of the Safe School Certification program.
The program allows students on the leadership team to voice concerns on the subject on behalf of the entire student body. According to Cardinal Community Schools Superintendent Joel Pedersen, the leadership team is an "important part of how it all works." These students are able to discuss the issue of bullying within the halls of Cardinal, and, according to the team, they hope to "make our school safe for everyone."
"I'm amazed by how students in these hallways treat me every day, and I want college professors, future employers or the military to think the same thing. "Hey, those Cardinal kids are really great," said Pedersen.
Before the ceremony ended and before the students joined together in cheering on the Cardinal Comets football team in a pep rally, Pedersen asked one thing of his student body.
"Be nice," he said. "Be respectful. I care about that more than math scores or reading scores because when we are respectful to each other, those math scores and reading scores actually go up."
According to Robins, students who feel bullied in school are more likely to drop out and not perform as well academically as their peers. These students may suffer depression and feelings of loneliness that follow them through adolescence and into adulthood. Students who bully others have higher risk of drug or alcohol abuse or physical abuse toward their spouse or children.
"How we treat each other is a non-negotiable for me. I will not tolerate [negative behavior]," said Pedersen. "Cardinal is a cool place, but places can change when we stop focusing on the right things," said Pedersen before holding up the Safe School Certification plaque proudly for students and facility to see.
A second communitywide Safe School Certification celebration took place at 6 p.m. Friday prior to the kickoff of the Cardinal and North Mahaska football game. The community was invited to attend the event, which featured an oath for official induction and guest speakers Iowa state Reps. Mary Gaskill and Curt Hanson.
— Danielle Lunsford is a staff writer at the Ottumwa Courier