While some may see the new hallway names as an omen of a novel, utopian student body or the sign of a positive change in the school environment, these labels, along with the other anti-bullying and core value-promoting activities, such as Compassion in Action week, do little to help a pressing need at Lake Braddock.

Though the halls may be receiving new names, the core values mentioned on the signs have not become any more commonplace. This past year, student desks bore a number of paper brainstorming activities that targeted trends in the student population such as bullying and depression. Teachers managed this, prodding the students to give responses. The papers were collected and thrown out, and the students went on with their lives. The emotionally-moving Rachel’s Challenge touched the hearts of many students, though only for an afternoon. Lake Braddock has experienced little to no change.

This latest attempt at creating a positive school environment, and the similar efforts in this new school movement are not able to stop bullying. These efforts are either misplaced, ineffective or perhaps entirely useless. In any of these cases, the route of this new movement must be redirected or reinvented to create an actual difference in the halls of the school.

As if the new Bruin Block system has not caused enough unrest in the student population, teenagers become no happier as they go to their third period classes to participate in exercises designed to help promote a positive learning environment. Whether they address how to report bullying or how to breathe, these programs gather little-to-no excitement or participation. Whether it is the students’ attitude or the design of the activities, this use of eighth period Bruin Block is a waste of time.

In the end, these are not the signs of genuine change but merely the latest attempt in an unsuccessful campaign to interest uninterested students. This points only to a dead end, and a different approach must be made to successfully direct the future course of Lake Braddock.

That is why the school must change its approach to bullying immediately. First, it must try to encourage students to have the best attitude possible when it comes to participating in these lessons. This will not occur during a student’s free period but rather during class time. Second, the lessons must feel genuine. Forcing teachers to instruct to the same PowerPoint accomplishes nothing. Teachers should be required to come up with their own anti-bullying lessons.

Finally, demonstrations such as Rachel’s Challenge have proven to be extremely powerful as they are real tragedies. The administration must show more videos and have more assemblies with these real-life examples in order to make the problem more tangible. This way, hopefully, the school can genuinely reach students to curb bullying.