Peter F. Kilmartin, Rhode Island’s attorney general, received lots of applause last Thursday morning inside Johnston High School’s jam-packed auditorium.
It wasn’t because Kilmartin was campaigning for re-election, or because his wife is a Johnston High graduate. Instead, the attorney general was at Cherry Hill to teach kids how to “Take Charge” of bullying.
According to the recently released survey by Cox Communications, some 60 percent of teens who admit to being bullied online have told an adult, which marks a 20 percent increase since Cox’s 2013 Internet Safety Survey.
The survey also reveals a decrease in teens reporting being bullied online. Twenty-four percent of teens reported being bullied online, compared to 31 percent in 2013.
“It’s good to see that fewer teens are reporting being bullied online and that more kids are talking to parents about this important issue,” Kilmartin told 350 Johnston freshmen and sophomores. “But there is still work to be done.”
And, as part of National Bullying Prevention Month, Kilmartin has teamed up with Cox Communications in hopes of “driving home the message that bullying – online or in person – can have not only serious legal ramifications for those who engage in bullying, but also long-term emotional and physical consequences for those who are bullied.”
Kilmartin, whose presentation received rave reviews from Johnston Police Deputy Chief Daniel O. Parrillo, Johnston School Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo and Johnston High Principal Zach Farrell, went on: “The most important lesson we can teach young people is that they have the power to stop bullying by speaking up and standing up against bullies.”
Kilmartin and Cox launched the “Take Charge” public awareness campaign earlier this year. As part of the program, Kilmartin and Cox asked students to take a pledge not to bully and to encourage teens and their families to support those targeted by bullies and seeking help.
The “Take Charge” pledge, he told the students, is available at www.cox.com/takecharge.
“Cox surveyed over 1,300 teens between the ages of 13 and 17, and more than half of those teens have witnessed cyberbullying on social media,” said Pipier Bewlay, Cox’s vice president and regional manager of human resources. “Of those who witnessed bullying, 35 percent said they tried to help in some way.”
“Take Charge” is a community outreach campaign developed by Cox to empower parents and caregivers to manage their children’s access to mass media content. For more than 10 years, this initiative has strived to increase customers’ awareness and use of parental controls and filtering tools already available on cable, Internet and wireless services.
At the end of the assembly, the more than 350 students signed the “Take Charge” pledge to not bully.
“We were very honored to have Attorney General Peter Kilmartin at Johnston High,” Farrell told media members after the event. “Bullying is an issue we take very seriously both at the high school and the district level. We’re also very thankful for his hard work in raising awareness, which is critical because it is the best form of prevention.”
Farrell, who helped coordinate the assembly, added: “I was very glad to see that our students received the message of this presentation with an open mind. Our SADD [Students Against Dangerous Decisions] does a great job throughout the year of highlighting important issues that affect our students. They are a credit to the school community.”
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