Ten-year-old Gerry Orz, who attends Wilson Elementary School in San Gabriel, believes it may be too late to stop bullying at the middle or high school level. According to this fourth-grader, kids his age need to confront this social problem immediately, and Gerry has produced a popular video documentary to show just that.
Bullying in local schools is seen to be such an epidemic that even Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy sent 6,500 LAUSD students to watch the award-winning documentary, “Bully,” on Tuesday. At the same time, California lawmakers last Monday passed AB1732, which gives schools the right to suspend or expel students who bully other kids on social networking sites.
Refusing to allow himself to be victimized, Gerry stood up to being bullied at his prior school when he was targeted by other kids for being Jewish, having lesbian parents, and other reasons. Gerry took the unique approach to helping others through his experience by producing an anti-bully documentary with the plain message of being strong enough to ask others for help.
Gerry’s anti-bullying documentary, “Day of Silence,” has made a deep impression on teachers and school board members of San Gabriel Unified. He recently presented his video at a school board meeting where many officials took serious note.
“We saw the video, we loved it, so we invited him to present it at the board meeting,” said SGUSD Board President Andrew Ammon, who, along with fellow board member John Eccleston, have been looking into current practices, programs and groups that would help them effectively address the bullying problem in schools.
Ammon said that Gerry’s video has helped school officials to find the right focus for everyone involved when it comes to supporting anti-bullying programs on campus, especially adults. School board members have their roles as public authority figures in legislating anti-bullying programs, and other adult roles include modeling appropriate behavior for children as parents and teachers.
“But the most crucial piece is empowering the students,” Ammon said. “We need to take a look at what Gerry is doing, what he’s taken from his experience, and channel that into a very positive direction. In effect, he said that he refused to be a victim, and that was one of the things that really struck me about his approach.”
At the heart of his documentary is Gerry’s belief that educating kids on bullying does not begin soon enough. He said that kids may participate in school assemblies in elementary school, but the discussions come off as more of a lecture to the younger kids like him rather than leaving a valuable and lasting impression.
“Younger kids need more visual education, and that is why I decided to make Day of Silence,” he said.
He said that kids connect to his movie, which can help them learn from his own experiences dealing with bullying. They can talk about the movie in class or share it at home to help parents understand their experiences and what is going on at school. And, very importantly, he said, the movie can “help a kid that is bullying others realize what that really means, and that’s exactly how this film can make a difference and begin to break the silence.”
School district officials are taking a proactive stance against bullying on district campuses by planning to show Gerry’s documentary in local schools. Gerry also hopes to increase interest in a national event he has planned, A Day of Silence, to be held on Dec. 12, 2012, in San Gabriel. The event will pay tribute to kids whose voices have been silenced by bullies.
The Day of Silence campaign includes a guestbook on his website, www.gerryorz.com, where participants can sign up and print out a sign that explains their silence and what it means on the day of the event.
Ammon said that adults could learn a lot from the way Gerry talks about bullying and the way he has taken a stand on this issue. “It’s the way he took it head on, did not pull any punches, and he was not afraid to show the effects of bullying on the student and the effect that it could have on those closest to the student,” he said. “So I think actually we can all learn a lot from Gerry in terms of dealing with the issue head on, and tackling it openly and honestly.”
Photo: Wilson Elementary School student Gerry Orz of San Gabriel – Courtesy photo
