On Thursday, October 25 at Yeshiva of Central Queens, the Mix It Up Club, an anti-bullying club had a ‘mix it up’ lunch. The club is a national club that encourages students to identify, question and cross social boundaries. Mix It Up lunches are a special program where for one day during lunch the students mix up. This is when they sit during lunch with other people they would not usually choose to sit with. This gives them a chance to meet new and different people. At YCQ kids from the club gave out different colored candies and each table was labeled with one of the colors of the candy. Students were given candy at random and sat at their assigned colored table. Students watched a video about accepting others who are not exactly like everyone else. The idea behind this video is to teach that we need to have tolerance and to understand that often those who are a little different can be bigger targets for bullying. So, students need to learn to stand up against bullying. In a time where social media is an easy source for cyberbullying, the implementation in all schools of clubs like this are more important than ever.
Mrs. Golubtchik YCQ’s JHS assistant principal said, “The Mix It Up program has changed the culture of the JHS, where bullying is unacceptable and that it is not a cool thing to be a bully, but it is a cool thing to be part of the solution.” Noa Itzhaky, an eighth-grade student and a member of the Mix It Up the club was asked, do you think the Mix It Up program helps stop bullying? Her answer, “Yes, because we do a lot of activities and programs that shows and inspires students not to bully people, and to understand it is wrong.” The Mix It Up club’s organizer and advisor, Mrs. Melissa Maisel, said, “I am really thrilled with how many students here at YCQ want to help end bullying both at school and online. Today I saw many students sitting at lunch with different kids. They were really enjoying meeting new friends. This year we will continue to do our best to stand up and prevent bullying.”
By Leah Kalantarov, grade 7
Mix It Up Club Lunch At YCQ
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