Long Island middle schoolers practice "kindness, inclusion and acceptance" in honor of Unity Day
NORTH BABYLON, N.Y. -- October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and schools all over the country are taking part in "Unity Day," including on Long Island.
Upon arrival to Robert Moses Middle School, Wednesday, students and staff were welcomed with messages promoting positivity.
More specifically, eighth grader Danilo Ortiz II says, "Kindness, inclusion and acceptance."
Inside, they're putting words into action.
"When someone dropped their books, I picked it up for them," sixth grader Victoria Mulet said.
"For inclusion, I started to talk to someone new during lunch," eighth grader Naima Frederique said.
"Acceptance -- I was speaking my friend's language, Hungarian," sixth grader Joy Slattery said.
That's what Unity Day is all about -- a nationwide call to action to "go orange" and prevent bullying. It was founded by Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Center, which says 1 in every 5 students report being bullied.
"It's one of the biggest challenges that school districts face ... to make sure that all of our students feel safe and secure here so they're ready to learn every single day. That's our number one priority," said Dr. Ken Graham, superintendent of schools.
In North Babylon, students have been invited, over the past few weeks, to fill out "Unity Tickets" noting when they completed an act of kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Then, on Unity Day, cashing in the tickets, for treats, with the option to paint a nail orange to show support.
"Do you think this makes a difference?" CBS New York's Jenna DeAngelis asked students.
"It does. I just hope some people just take it to mind," Joy said.
"I think this will help end bullying by spreading awareness," Naima said.
"I like to make sure everyone feels that type of love that they need and to make sure that they're not alone," Danilo said.
This is the first Unity Day celebration here and school staff say they plan to build on this momentum.
"If we create a kinder, more accepting and more inclusive school community and school environment, students feel better about coming to school, it feels good to be here and it creates more positive school environment," said Desiree Stuart, a school psychologist at Robert Moses Middle School.
All the tickets will go on a poster through October to remind the students of their pledge to stand together against bullying.
