City of Palm Springs hosts a free anti-bullying symposium
The City of Palm Springs Human Rights Commission hosted a free community forum and discussion, “Bullying: A Community Symposium on Prevention and Intervention Strategies” on Saturday at the Palm Springs Convention Center. It comes just in time for National Bullying Prevention Month.
Jessica Collins graduated from Palm Springs High School in 2021 and said she spent most of her life getting bullied.
"It has been to the point where I have been suicidal and it has messed with my mental health a great deal," said Collins. "I personally felt like I wasn't listened to because I just genuinely felt like nobody cared."
So Collins shared her story at the anti-bullying symposium. It was an event that opened up the doors to talk about local bullying prevention and intervention strategies with experts.
"I can be that person that everyone can see that's making the change and, like, speaking about things they're going through, and just talking about how to change everything that's happening to them," said Collins.
A panel of subject matter experts was there including representatives from Boo2Bullying.org, Queer Works, the Palm Springs Unified School District, Alianza Coachella Valley, and the Palm Springs Police Department.
The experts shared their insights and talked about how parents, youth, community leaders, educators, and others can help to prevent, report, and mitigate bullying, as well as support victims.
Laura Meusel is the executive director for student services for PSUSD and one of the panel experts.
"I think one of the best things we can do as adults is give more opportunity for student voice," said Meusel.
Meusel said the biggest takeaway from the symposium was the importance of connection.
"That a student has one positive connection with an adult on campus every day," said Meusel.
The district also has a bullying reporting system on every single school website.
"Really teaching students that they do have a voice, and they do have a choice," said Meusel.
Keynote speaker and coordinator from the National Bullying Prevention Center – Los Angeles, Judy French, offered her tips to stop bullying:
"Make sure you keep the lines of communication open so that children know they can come to you with difficult stories," said French."When things go wrong, we need to be we need to realize we're in partnership with the school, not opposed, you know, that we are working together for the good of the child."
Her goal is to live in a world without bullying.
"If we want to see the world without bullying, it takes everyone to be kind to each other,' said Collins.
The City of Palm Springs said it plans to continue the fight against bullying by hosting a yearly anti-bullying event.
“Far too many in our community know first-hand the impact of bullying. The City of Palm Springs is committed to a future where all are treated with respect,” said Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton. “We on the Palm Springs City Council thank and appreciate those who have organized this important community symposium with the goal of educating our community about what we can do to prevent bullying.”
