Nov 27 - Nov 29
Thanksgiving Vacation
All Day
Students Discuss "Words That Hurt"
December 12th 2011
A group of 13 Upper School students who share a common goal to heighten multicultural awareness and anti-bullying themes among students presented the school year's first "Words That Hurt" assembly to the Fort Lauderdale sixth grade this week. The team of students - many who represent multicultural groups and clubs on campus - explained their personal thoughts about respectfully sharing throughts about hurtful words that pertain to the way students identify themselves. Words That Hurt is a three-year-old project of Pine Crest's Diversity office.
"We believe that all of us have heard and said words that hurt, so we are not doing this to make anyone feel uncomfortable," said Black Students Association President Whitney Anderson during the discussion. "We are, however, participating in this discussion to share our feelings and thoughts on how these words make us feel and how we can rise awareness to stop using them."
The program has been successful because the program format is nurturing and directed by Upper School students.
"The big brother, big sister model works very well when discussing topics and issues that typically are avoided or used as the brunt of jokes," said Karla Dejean, Director of Public Relations and Diversity. "The Words That Hurt team offers a level of comfort as well because they share personal stories and relate to the younger group."
Pine Crest School belongs to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), which is a non-profit organization that provides services and represenatation to more than 1,400 private schools in the country. According to the NAIS, we all identify ourselves in eight basic ways - age, ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, and gender.
