Today you guys saw a presentation by Mrs. Yetto about DASA (the Dignity for All Students Act).
Remember when she asked you to raise your hand if you had a grown-up in the building that you could trust and report bullying to? Well, I noticed that some of you didn't have your hands up.
I am so sorry.
If you do not feel that you can come to me, then I am not doing my job correctly.
Here's the secret: my job isn't to teach science, it's to teach KIDS. This means that you as a person (and your safety, your happiness, your confidence) are a larger part of my job than evolution, or taxonomy, or genetics, or chemistry ever could be.
I am going to make you this promise: I will listen to you.
If you feel bullied, if you feel threatened, or shamed by someone who is trying to hurt you, please tell me. I care about you (whether you like it or not).
If you try to tell me and you don't feel like I have heard you, then TELL ME LOUDER. I am human, which means that sometimes I am an idiot. Tell me again and again until I hear you.
You deserve to be heard. You deserve that, when you reach out your hand for help, someone is there to hold it.
When she told us to raise our hands you were the person I thought of :)
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