De Soto High School, for the week of October first, has participated in Kansas’ Anti-Bullying Week. School counselor, Christine Johns was in charge of informing students of the severity of bullying. This year was the first year for De Soto to participate due to the new state statue that requires schools to have an anti-bullying program.

In response to this, Johns, with the help of librarian Jennifer Sosna and the DHS Lite team members, posters have been put up all around the school and will stay up all year.

Along with the posters, there will be individual activities each day. On Monday, statistics were on the announcements. Tuesday consisted of signs outside in the parking lot for students to see as they pull into DHS, along with a quiz during Seminar.

On Wednesday, also during Seminar, a video was showed called “Pause Before You Post,” hosted by Jostens, followed by a class discussion over it. During lunch on Thursday, students are able to go up and sign a pledge to stop bullying. Lastly, on Friday, students and staff are encouraged to wear red.

Sosna hopes to create even more involvement from the students in the upcoming years by a committee for students to join.

“You just don’t treat people like that. It’s all about accepting people for who they are.” “I want kids to realize the impact they have on students if they bully, and I want them to realize the impact they can have by standing up to other kids,” Johns said.