Over the years bullying has taken a backseat to other issues. For many people, they see bullying as a problem of the past, when kids got in school yard scuffles and groups of kids openly poked fun at others who they deemed weaker than themselves, but bullying is still a very real problem. It may not be as overtly present as it once was, but that has also made it that much more dangerous.

There are still instances where kids openly make fun of others, but more times than not, the bullying has moved to a digital platform where it is hidden from adults. Facebook, twitter, text messages, and tumbler all provide a platform for bullies.

In an effort to help combat bullying, Student Council will launch an anti-bullying campaign in January to help students learn how they can prevent bullies from having power over others.

Student Council decided to participate in Bully Prevention Week after a memeber expressed interest in starting an initiative last year. The campaign is a culmination of a year long process to combat bullying. Student council president John Fuller hopes it will encourage students to be more aware of the subject.

“Bully Prevention Week is an effort on the part of the student council to educate students about the dangers of bullying, how to prevent it, and how to respond to it,” Fuller said. “Hopefully people become more familiar with the dangers of bullying as well as the reality of bullying and the fact that, as people change and evolve, bullying will still persist, but we can always work toward minimizing or eliminating bullying.”

Student council sponsor Cyndi Owens believes that bullying has become a major problem in society and hopes this initiative will lessen the amount of bullying at school.

“There’s a really powerful statistic that says bullies in school go on to become bullies in life and they really learn that habit in school and learn it gives them power,” Owens said. “There was a suicide in Navasota last year as the result of cyber bullying and we really want to try to see if we can prevent that here.”

Students like Landon Hoover agree that reminding students about the rising issue of bullying is a good way to keep it out of school.

“To me, this is great because students always forget that kids are being bullied all the time and that’s not cool,” Hoover said. “Maybe Bully Prevention Week will give kids a chance to stand up and stop bullying.”

Students are encouraged to get involved in raising awareness by telling their peers about Bully Prevention Week which will be held the third week of January and will coincide with other student council activities.