An anti-bullying rally at the Soldotna Public Library drew a modest, friendly crowd on Thursday night. The event was student led and orchestrated by a young man who is quickly becoming not only a fixture at KSRM, but in the community as well.
“I don’t mind it,” says 12-year-old Kenny Smith when asked how he feels about people mentioning the fact that he is doing all of these things at such a young age.
The rally sought to address the age old issue of bullying in public schools, an issue Smith has taken up by choosing to be a voice of support and encouragement for those who experience bullying.
Smith said at the rally that he wants to help bring about change. “I’m looking to make some changes and deal with a lot of the bullying and hoping that it won’t be as rough.”
Kenny has joined KSRM’s Soundoff hosted by Duane Bannock on multiple occasions now to bring the issue to the public. He put the rally together in hopes of creating a safe space for people to show up knowing they would find an atmosphere of support. “I’m just here looking for a place where people can go and not have to worry about getting bullied.”
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Assistant Superintendent Kerry Dendurent was also present for the event. “It’s pretty phenomenal,” Dendurent said about Smith’s efforts to stand up against bullying. “And I know when we keep saying Kenny’s only 12 years old, but it’s pretty amazing when you have a student who wants to look at something that’s going on in the community and trying to bring into awareness and trying to diminish the impact of bullying on all of our students and even our adults.”
The school district offers a safe school helpline which allows people to report any acts of harm or potential acts of harm. The helpline is located on every KPBSD web page. There visitors will find a text number for an app that can be uploaded and a web page that provides access to bullying support 24/7, 365 days a year.
“[It] definitely ties in the social emotional learning pieces that we’re doing and restorative practices,” said Dendurent on the district’s efforts to handle bullying in schools. “Just being kind is the biggest word that we’re hearing, especially in our elementary schools right now.”
As Dendurent puts it, the rally is an example of how solutions to problems like this happen “one step at a time.”
For Smith and for the peninsula, standing up against bullying is one big step in the right direction.