Anti-Bullying Program Stops By McNair Elementary

recently had a treat. The students didn't know it, but they were part of making a change at their school through the H.E.R.O.E.S in Action sessions.

In the school gym, the students were H.E.R.O.E.S., which stands for Helping Everyone Resist Oppression Everyday Safely. It's an anti-bullying program that Ray Amanat founded and facilitates.

Confident in what he described as his favorite superhero shirt, Spider-Man, Amanat began the presentation with an analogy, calling bullies wolves, targets of bullies sheep and teachers or other adults as sheepdogs, according to an statement.

“I want to be a male role model for students who are bullied,” Amanat said in the statement. “Students come to school to learn, not to be a tough guy or girl."

Amanat said wolves seek stray sheep. He told his audience of fifth-grade students they like the kind of sheep who look like they won’t resist.

Amanat’s program features six major parts with topics including personal space, body language, controlling anger, staying safe and safety zones.

The Hazelwood School District’s Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative funded the viist.

McNair counselor Andrew Harris said the program is perfectly formatted for the school's young audience.

“This is something our kids needed to hear,” he said. “I thought one of the best aspects of the program was the language Mr. Amanat presented to the students and staff.” 

Following the assembly, elementary students took a pre- and a post-test and discussed the results in the classrooms. They received folders entitled, “I Am a Hero in Action, Not a Bully,”  Students also sign anti-bullying pledges, which will be laminated and displayed in classrooms.

“The very same day, I was able to engage students with ‘safe hands, safe feet, safe language’,” Harris said in a statement. “Also the idea of being a hero, I believe, changes the way kids think about speaking up when they see unsafe behaviors. 

"Thinking of it that way gives them courage to stand up for themselves and others.”

Come the end of October, all HSD elementary schools will have benefitted from seeing Amanat's program. According to an HSD statement, there are additional plans for the similar presentations at the middle and high school levels.