Cole Manor Elementary Takes a Stand Against Bullying

Cole Manor Elementary School principal Nicole Poncheri and guidance counselor Lee Martin visited the Norristown Area School District at the Monday night board meeting to talk about an anti-bullying action campaign that they have brought to their school.

The Bully Project, a campaign that followed the film “Bully,” was developed to discourage bullying by promoting empathy, according to the campaign’s website at  http://www.thebullyproject.com/.

“I guess you could you could say we’re going to pilot it this year, said Martin.

Children and the parents who choose to participate have and will attend workshops. According to Martin, they teach children to be more empathetic to others. Specifically, they teach them that they can choose to be empathetic, how they can make their own choice to “visualize” how the bullied person is feeling and to “experience” how the bullied person is feeling.

Parents have been participating, too. Martin said that her workshops have averaged about 30 parents.