Bullying: A Local Student Speaks Out
Tabitha Bowles, a sophomore at San Marino High School, transferred to the San Marino Unified School District after she experienced severe bullying at a nearby school district that landed her in the hospital and years of therapy.
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Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, and other local officials urged Governor Jerry Brown to pass anti-bullying legislation at a press conference at Garvey Middle School Thursday morning.
One of the press conference speakers was San Marino High School sophomore Tabitha Bowles, a bullying victim who has been instrumental in the creation of the anti-bullying bill (AB 1156).
Bowles spoke with Patch about bullying she experienced in the San Gabriel Unified School District starting at age 11 that caused her to eventually transfer to the San Marino Unified School District.
Would you mind talking more about your bullying experience?
I was assaulted at school by boys and I had rocks thrown at me and I had one hit my head—I had a few hit me actually. I had girls laugh at me because of it. They were just standing there laughing like it was funny and I had to go to the hospital and I’ve been through therapy for a few years now just trying to get past some of it.
What message do you have for kids going through bullying right now?
I would tell them (long pause) I’m not sure.
What resources helped you most?
My family was there for me through it all; they’re still here for me. They’re my biggest support.
How are you involved with the anti-bullying bill (AB 1156)?
My family and I have an organization called Kids Speak Up and we went to Mike Eng asking him to put together some type of bill because we came up with this idea to get it out there, that this is an important topic and it needs to be addressed.
In This article
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San Marino High School
2701 Huntington Dr, San Marino, CA -
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San Marino Unified School District
1665 West Dr, San Marino, CA
Paul Bois
6:43 am on Friday, September 30, 2011
While legislation is a step in the right direction with handling this epidemic it reminds me of the warnings given by former Atheist turned Christian Peter Hitchens about the underlying moral decay of our society. He spoke of an incident that happened in his home country of Britain where a group of after school teens beat a fellow classmate to death via stomping his head on the ground. I'm happy communities are organizing to halt these kinds of atrocities and pray it puts a dent in the rise of inconsequential cruelty among children. Though I do believe our culture of selfishness and neglect has influenced it, I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Jeanie Caldwell
10:20 am on Friday, September 30, 2011
Tabitha, Good for you. I'm so sorry to hear of how you were mis-treated by your peers/classmates, but so moved by your not letting those experiences define you. I'm always motivated by people who overcome their circumstances--and try to make the world a better place. You are clearly doing that. Thank you for your work.
Alison apRoberts
10:35 am on Friday, September 30, 2011
The California State PTA is proud to be the sponsor of this legislation (AB 1156) and to stand with Tabitha to draw attention to the problem of bullying -- and do something about it so that all students can feel safe in school. For more information, visit the California State PTA website: www.capta.org
Gilda Moshir
8:38 am on Saturday, October 1, 2011
Tabitha, you have taken a courageous step by creating a forum for victims of bullying, I applaud you! Bullying on campuses is more common than we know, I am interested to know what the bill will actually do for the victims, I seriously think the school should have more supervision on campus to prevent such incidences, and kids should feel "safe" to speak up, often kids are afraid of being labeled "sissies" if they speak up, doesn't matter what gender
Mike Weakley
10:03 pm on Sunday, October 2, 2011
I have developed a bully prevention show for elementary schools. You can see clips of it here...
http://youtu.be/2qAvD01RD9E
http://www.StopBullyingShow.com
JuliannaSmith
5:59 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
It would also be important for parents to teach their kids on how to handle bullying and must provide them something that can definitely help whenever they need help. I was reading this blog on anationofmoms and found an article that spoke of a service to protect my family. It said that if I followed the service on twitter, I would enter the drawing for 6 months free of service. Check out the article: http://anationofmoms.com/2011/08/protect-your-family-giveaway.html