Aspiring public relations majors battle bullying

Every seven minutes a child in the United States is bullied.
   What could a five-member public relations team composed of students from Loyola University New Orleans do about it?
   Create a New Orleans-themed campaign, that’s what.
 
 Haley Humiston, team account executive Dwayne Fontenette, Charlie LaRock, Leah Whitlock and Vannia Zelaya were charged by the Public Relations Student Society of America’s national Bateman Case Study competition to create an anti-bullying campaign targeted at 10- to 19-year-olds.
   Their “Step Up, Reach Out! campaign and accompanying slogan “Geaux K.I.N.D” was showcased throughout February and included creating rack cards, handbills, a survey about bullying and 21 hour-long workshops conducted at six middle and high schools,  two parent focus groups and a “Step Up to Bullying Summit” Feb. 23 on Loyola’s campus to help high school students develop their own anti-bullying campaign. 

Throw me something, mister
   Members said that living in New Orleans inspired the theme and logo that included a Mardi Gras ladder and beads. They learned the importance of “stepping up” when witnessing bullying and devised the acronym K.I.N.D. to signify a “step” individuals could take against bullying: Keep others included; Inform an adult if you see bullying; Never bully others; Decide to be more than a bystander.
   “It’s so much more important to be more than a bystander and say something because you could affect someone’s life,” Humiston said.
    “If they were a bystander to bullying, it was their problem, and they have a responsibility to step up and reach out,” Whitlock said.
   Their work on the campaign since September uncovered surprising facts and statistics they presented to students – bullying could be physical, verbal, indirect or include cyber bullying. Of the students they surveyed, 49 percent have been bullied at school; 88 percent of bullied students have been teased or called names; and 50 percent of bullied students almost never report it.
   Bullies are four times more likely than non-bullies to be convicted of crimes by age 24, Zelaya said. For victims, low self-esteem, depression and bad grades could result.
   “We realized how prevalent it was,” Fontenette said. “I feel like almost everyone has experienced some form of bullying in their lives.”
   Considering that New Orleans has a huge crime problem, this finding resonated with students and parents.
   “If we could change one student’s opinion or have one student reach out, it would make a difference, “ Humiston said. “I think we reached many more than one.”
  
Seventeen schools have committed to carrying on the message using the workshop plan and resources the team developed, Whitlock said.
Competition rules
   Team members said they stayed within the allotted budget of $1,300. Without corporate sponsors this year, they had to secure $1,000 on their own with in-kind donations from partners – a particular challenge that previous years’ teams didn’t face, said faculty advisor Cathy Rogers, the Shawn Donnelley Professor for Nonprofit Communications at Loyola.
   Rogers said another challenge this year was creating a campaign for a diverse age range.    
   “But they’ve had a great leader (Fontenette) and stepped up to the plate and done what they were supposed to,” Rogers said. “They had to come up with something creative enough and adaptable enough. And, in a short amount of time they were able to divide and conquer (such as doing multiple workshops with only five people). It was really impressive to me.”
   The team partnered with several organizations –Always Pursuing Excellence (APEX), Second Harvest Food Bank, Fresco Cafe and the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) – to disseminate and print campaign materials. PFLAG committed to developing a grant program through which local schools could apply to implement anti-bullying programs.
   “We could only do our campaign in the month of February, but we wanted to have our campaign long-lasting,” Humiston said.
Big shoes to fill
   Loyola’s Bateman teams have been successful, placing first six times in the past 13 years and in the top three for 12 of 13 years. To continue the trend, this year’s team consulted former members and local advertising and public relations professionals on strategy.
   “We’ve place first more than any other school in the country,” Rogers said, adding that team members have launched careers by participating.
   It’s not easy, either, having to juggle school, jobs (the majority of the team works), extra-curriculars and social life.
   “It was incredibly hard but also fulfilling at the same time,” Humiston said. “When we went into the schools and were actually working with students, we saw the impact of our work first-hand; that made all the hard work pay off.”
   They are aggregating their data in a report that will be submitted to the judging committee and will learn in mid-April if they are finalists. Either way, they said they know they impacted students’ thoughts on bullying.
   “I think we showed people that they were able to make a difference,” Fontenette said.
   Rogers thinks this team has a good chance.
   “This team – and most of our teams – make sure the research covers all the bases in the charge, and they’ve done it,” Rogers said. “They have something culturally relevant and had measurable objectives.”
   Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.