The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh hosted a conference on March 3, focusing on engaging the community in bullying awareness and prevention.

The inaugural Opening the School Gates conference focused on methods for creating and supporting anti-bullying programs in schools and throughout the community. Nearly 60 school administrators, teachers, students, parents and community members attended the conference.

Conference organizer, Brianna Obright, said the diverse audience brought a variety of opinions and perspectives.

“We wanted to bring together these specific populations because they are the stakeholders in anti bullying campaigns and programs,” Obright said. “We were so happy that we got to talk about this with the groups that can take immediate action.”

Workshops were presented by school administrators, community members, teachers, UW Oshkosh administrators and area high school students. Topics included using inclusive language, cyber bullying, diversity and opposing negativity.

Keynote speaker addresses school responsibilities to end bullying

Jamie Nabozny dropped out of high school in eleventh grade after years of antigay verbal and physical abuse by fellow students. After a brutal attack left him hospitalized, Nabozny and his parents fought back against school administrators who failed to stop his abuse.

Nabozny told his story as the conference’s keynote speaker; something he said has become his passion.

“All students deserve equal protection of safety under the law, yet I wasn’t protected,” Nabozny said. “My goal now is to talk to as many students, parents and teachers so they know who is responsible and what can be done to prevent bullying.”

Nabozny and his parents reached out to school officials, who at one point told him to accept bullying because he is gay.

With the help of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Nabozny won a landmark lawsuit in federal court that established individual liability of school administrators if they fail to carry out their responsibility to provide equal protection to all students. His story is told in the documentary, “Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case that Made History.”

Now, Nabozny’s goal is to engage all groups at schools in anti bullying campaigns.

“I was so encouraged to see that high school students were coming to the conference. That’s what excites me about what I do,” Nobozny said. “I’ve learned that around 80 percent of students are bystanders—they aren’t bullies and they don’t get picked on. I really want to empower this group of students to stop harassment.”

Students put information into practice at Kimberly High School

A group of eight sophomores from Kimberly High School and their assistant principal, Steve Verboomen, attended the conference hoping to learn about bullying prevention campaigns they can institute.

“We’re just in the learning stage,” Verboomen said. “We are hoping to become more educated on these programs.”

Verboomen said one student, Claire Rebman, approached him with the idea. “I’m so excited to be here,” Rebman said. “Our main goal is to help students.”

Verboomen said that the group has read books on case studies and bullying prevention programs.

“We’ve got a good foundation for the development of this group. When the program for this conference came across my desk, I thought it would be a unique opportunity to learn some hands-on approaches,” Verboomen said.

Another conference participant from Kimberly was Kolbe Nienhaus. He said he was most looking forward to getting information to help victims of bullying.

“A lot of people know that stopping bullying is the right thing to do. But now we’ll know specific actions we can take,” Nienhaus said.

Obright said the enthusiasm of this year’s conference has encouraged her to begin planning next year’s conference.

“It was a very successful program,” Obright said. “It was great to see students and community members openly discussing the issue of bullying. I look forward to expanding this program and seeing even more community involvement next year.”

For handouts from this year’s conference visit www.uwosh.edu/go/osg. Next year’s conference is currently in the planning process. For more information on this and similar conferences or workshops, visit the UW Oshkosh Office of Continuing Education and Extension website at www.uwosh.edu/conted.