When Lisha Kill eighth-grader Jacob Haley decided to take a stand against bullying after years of enduring it at school, his voice was head throughout the Capital District. Last month, Haley won the first WORDS Anti-Bullying campaign competition through the Albany Country District Attorney’s office.
Haley created wristbands with the words “Stop bullying. The damage is infinite” printed on them. Since he created them earlier in the school year, the bands have been distributed throughout Lisha Kill Middle School and the community, free of charge, to raise awareness about the damage bullying can cause.
“Through elementary school and the first couple years here, I was bullied a lot,” Haley said. After being hit hard enough to make his arm swell on a bus ride home, he decided that enough was enough. “I found out about this website where you can make wristbands, so I ordered a whole bunch. I recently ordered more, so I could pass more out.”
“My friends thought it was cool. Someone wanted a whole bunch so they could hand some out to their friends, too. They all thought it was a great idea. My parents gave some out, too, to their friends. My mom put them on Facebook, so we sent some out,” he said.
Haley said he came up with the words on the wristbands with input from his parents and sister. He wanted to have a slogan that would be impactful and meaningful, and he succeeded.
Soon after creating the wristbands, Haley’s cousin, who knew he wanted to make a difference in the anti-bullying movement, suggested he enter into the Albany District Attorney’s WORDS Hurt/Heal campaign competition.
“I received a lot of support from my parents, and my friends and cousin. They do a lot to help me, because they knew it was tough. It was hard because I would get bullied a lot. They supported me a lot through this,” Haley said of the competition.
With the campaign, the District Attorney’s office asks that, with parental permission, students participate in Random Acts of Kindness to emphasize that words have the power to hurt or heal. The participants are asked to then record their acts of kindness with artwork, photographs, or videos to be submitted to the office at www.albanycountyda.com.
“Every student in our county has the power to eliminate bullying today by using positive and empowering words towards one another,” said District Attorney David Soares in a statement. “Positive words can change the conversation, the culture of bullying, the culture of violence, and the culture of hate.”
Soares started the campaign on Oct. 1 of this year. Within the month, students from schools throughout the Capital District sent in their entries to be chosen as a weekly winner, receiving a “WORDS swag bag” that includes a t-shirt, water bottle and other items. The weekly winners were then put into a monthly competition where people in the community voted for their favorite on the DA office’s website.
“I think it’s a good program to get it out there that bullying needs to stop,” Haley said. “To spread nice thoughts throughout the whole county. It gives you incentive. You could get the headphones, or the swag bag. Some people need an incentive to do nice things.”
Haley was chosen as the winner for the last week in October. The community then voted his project to be the favorite WORDS campaign project of the month, winning him an Apple technology suite, including customized Beatz by Dre headphones.
“This campaign is about using your words to have a positive impact on others, and Jacob did just that,” said Soares. “I want to thank Jacob, his supporters, everyone who voted for our contestants. I also want to acknowledge the leadership at Lisha Kill Middle School for supporting Jacob and turning what was a painful experience for him into a positive and healthy example for all students.”
Haley was honored at an assembly on Friday, Nov. 7, for all he had done for anti-bullying. There, Soares presented Haley with the prizes.
“Bullying is just not a good thing to do. It may not seem like it hurts people, some people may just smile and act like everything is okay, but it’s not,” he said. “I don’t want to stop with just the bracelets.”