Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Do you know how to advocate for yourself? Have you ever been bullied? You might be surprised by the connection between using your voice and standing up to a bully. Most of the time, when youth are bullied, it is because the bully feels they can pick on a certain person who appears to have no voice. Bullying is more common now than ever before because of the many platforms where it can occur without face-to-face interaction.
This is why our youth voices matter and why learning to advocate for yourself is important. Speaking up with your friends also helps support you in speaking up with peers.
Mr. Tyler from Rize Boxing Gym has been teaching our youth the importance of using their voice and resolving differences with words rather than physical actions. He emphasizes friendly competition and building each other up instead of tearing each other down. Through partner work drills such as band runs and the rock-paper-scissors running relay game, our youth learn to work together and cheer for one another. These activities focus on advocating for others and showing that we are not alone, but together we can accomplish less harm to others and ourselves.
Mr. Tyler also taught us how to advocate when we need help, something even adults struggle with due to pride and shame. He conducted a questionnaire using a game of Heads Up, Seven Up with the youth, asking them questions about areas they needed help with but were afraid to ask due to fear of judgment. By the end of the game, our youth realized that everyone had an area where they needed help and that no one is alone in this.
At Lead The Way Learning Academy, we place a strong emphasis on ensuring that our youth understand the importance of both academic excellence and social-emotional awareness. These initiatives at Rize Boxing Gym are deeply tied to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) principles, helping youth recognize their own emotions, manage them constructively, develop empathy and social awareness, build strong relationships, and make responsible decisions.
We would like to thank Mr. Tyler and his tools for anti-bullying and for helping our youth understand that it’s okay to speak up and stand up for one another. Our voice matters, and if we stick together, we can make a difference.
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