Kaylee Franklin, a sophomore at Plant City High School, knows what it’s like to be bullied.
“I was bullied from fourth to seventh grade,” Franklin said.
Her peers verbally and physically threatened her, and spread rumors about her.
“I really did think about ending my life, and my parents were going through a divorce at the time,” she said. “I felt like I didn’t have anyone.”
But, she rose above those obstacles and created a new club at PCHS called Bullying Be Gone. Her goal is to create a safe place where other students who are or have been victims could join together and prevent bullying in their community.
Franklin first got the idea for the club during summer 2012, when a friend invited her to church camp. But, because she was about to be in eighth grade and would move onto high school in less than a year, she decided to wait until she was at her new school to start the club.
During her freshman year at PCHS, Franklin formed plans for the club. First, she had to find a faculty adviser. Melanie Garces, a math teacher, agreed to take on the task.
“I heard a lot of good things about (Garces),” Franklin said. “She was really nice and I liked her as a teacher.”
Next, Franklin had to gather at least 25 signatures of students who wanted to join the new club, or at least thought it would be a good thing for the school to have. She stopped collecting signatures after 75 students had given their written approval.
“It was so surreal to me, because I used to think I was so alone,” Franklin said.
BBG’s 25 members have met twice so far this school year and will continue to meet once a month. The club had a float in the homecoming parade, which Franklin said was helpful for getting the word out about the new organization. Members also promote the club by wearing their t-shirts, which say, “Don’t let them sink,” and have the club motto on the back.
Now, Franklin is working on getting a WWE wrestler to come to the school and speak to students about the dangers of bullying through a national program called Be a STAR (Show Tolerance And Respect).
As the club grows, Franklin hopes to eventually organize a community-wide rally or awareness walk before she graduates.
The members of the club come from all different backgrounds and are involved in diverse ways at school.
“Some of them, people would consider them … the people that everyone knows,” Franklin said. “But that is what I love about BBG. It’s a huge mix. It’s for the preps, and the band geeks, and the outsiders, and everyone.”
PCHS students interested in joining the club should fill out an interest form at the Student Affairs office and pay the $20 club dues, which includes a t-shirt.
To find the club on social media search: Bullying Be Gone – BBG (Facebook); bullyingbegone (Instagram); or @PCHSBBG (Twitter).
BULLYING STATISTICS
• Victims of bullying are up to nine times more likely than non-victims to commit suicide. About 5,000 young people commit suicide in the U.S. each year.
• More than 50% of teenagers have been cyber-bullied, and 50% have cyber-bullied someone else.
• Girls are more likely than boys to use exclusion as a bullying technique.
• About 77% of bullying cases are verbal, which includes but is not limited to spreading rumors, yelling obscenities and using derogatory terms.
Information from bullyingstatistics.org.
Contact Catherine Sinclair at csinclair@plantcityobserver.com.