Standing up against bullying, English freshman Colton Loving, journalism freshman Sarah Jarvis, nursing freshman Michaela Denniston, elementary education freshman J.J. Williamson, kinesiology freshman Jenny Butzbach, and journalism freshman Claire Roney make up the Downtown campus club You = Special. The new club will work with bullied teens to develop their confidence and self-esteem. (Photo by Shawn Raymundo)Special education and elementary education freshman J.J. Williamson survived bullying in his middle school years and now strives to help other bullied youth in the Valley through You=Special, a program designed to support them. "The biggest thing is that a lot of the kids that are bullied have no one to listen to," he said. "We just want to be there for them when they have no one else."
About eight people showed up at the first meeting in early October. The organization's most recent meeting tallied 10 people.
"We’re not really in the infancy," Williamson said. "We’re more in like the toddler stage right now."
The group plans to accomplish its goal of helping bullied youth by speaking to middle and high schools in an assembly-like setting where four or five club members talk to the students about their own experiences with bullying, Williamson said.
"After that, we’re hoping to sort of split into small groups and sort of have like a one-on-one with the kids," he said.
Nursing freshman Michaela Denniston, head of advertising and fundraising and operator of the group's Twitter, said merely sharing personal bullying stories will help the students.
"Even if they don’t want to talk to us personally, at least they know that someone was in their shoes and they got through it and they reached a resolution, which is our main goal for them," she said.
Denniston said ASU students can connect with middle- and high-school-aged children.
"One of our main goals is to make sure they have someone to talk to and relate to," she said. "I feel like with other organizations, they have no one to relate to. Since we’re around their age, it’s really important because they look up to you."
So far, the meetings have been mostly about solidifying the members of the group, Denniston said.
"We’re just trying to get our core group together," she said. "Our first meetings have pretty much just been about who wants to be involved, and then we’re trying to figure out what positions (members) want to be involved with." The organization will remain centered on the Downtown campus for the remainder of the year, but Denniston said the location has not hindered the club's growth.
"I feel like being downtown has really kind of helped us, because it’s easier to get your name out there because it’s a smaller campus," she said. "So I feel like this is a good starting ground for us, and then when we want to expand next year we can put our name out in Tempe."
Kinesiology freshman Jennifer Butzbach, vice president of the organization, said operating downtown is also convenient because many schools are located off of Central Avenue near downtown Phoenix. Williamson's inspiration for creating the group came from his own experiences with bullying and the documentary "Bully," a 2011 film about bullying in U.S. public schools.
"There’s just so much stuff on the news about kids committing suicide over bullying," he said. "It’s just so sad, because every one of us is such a special person."
Williamson spoke with journalism freshman Colton Loving about his ideas in early August. Since then, Loving has become a person he can come to with his ideas for the club.
"He’s really the idea man, but I can help try and narrow broad ideas and that kind of thing," Loving said. "He bounces ideas off of me."
Williamson recently reached out to ASU Preparatory Academy, located near the Downtown campus, and Valley Lutheran High School in Phoenix, the school from which he graduated, and said both are interested in partnering with the organization.
"I’ve talked with ASU Prep and with the counselor over there, and she really wants to be a part of it, and she wants to help us out any way she can and that’ll probably be our first school that we go to," he said. Williamson said his ultimate dream is for the club to grow and become a nonprofit organization separate from ASU.
"My ultimate dream for it would be to like sort of branch out and become not just an ASU organization but a nonprofit organization in Arizona that maybe spreads to other states," he said. "The real goal is just to form a bond with the kids and hopefully just change some of their lives because no kid should have to be bullied."
Ultimately, Williamson said he wants to make a difference and help fight bullying.
"Kids can be mean, and it’s sad, but that’s why we’re going to try and change it," he said.
Reach the reporter at savannah.harrelson@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @savannahleeh
