This is the Week of Respect. We learned the “Three Rs” for environmental protection: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We also learned “Three Rs” for studying: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Now we’ll add “Respect” to the list.
The Week of Respect comes from the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. At our school, our guidance counselor explained to us what bullying is and what harm it can cause. According to the bill, bullying is “any gesture, act, or communication perceived as being motivated by a characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or any other distinguishing characteristic, which substantially disrupts or interferes with the rights of other students, and that:
“A reasonable person should know will have the effect of harming a student or damaging the student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of emotional harm to his person or damage to his property;
“Has the effect of insulting any student(s); and
“Creates a hostile environment for the student.”
As fifth-grade students our classmates and we are learning to respect others. If we see bullying, we’ll try to stop it. The Week of Respect will come and go, but not our respect for others.
Brian and Andrew Zhong
Plainsboro
Editor’s note: Brian and Andrew are fifth grade students at Millstone River School.
