BREAK THE SILENCE
Club aims to send a message of positivity and respect
Treat others with
respect, confront
bullying
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
The members of Seaside
High School’s latest club, es-
tablished this fall, are focused
on disseminating a message
of positivity and exhibiting
respect for their peers, teach-
ers and other acquaintances to
improve the social climate of
their school.
“It’s going to be a process,
but we hope by the end of the
school year, there will be a
noticeable change,” said advi-
sor Shirley Yates, the school’s
attendance assistant.
Break the Silence, which
was approved as an official
club in November, was born
from a movement that start-
ed last school year. A group
of students organized a Hap-
piness Sprinkling march in
May, during which they took
to the streets of Seaside with
positive messages, yellow
attire and uplifting music —
an idea borrowed from the
Anacortes Center for Happi-
ness, which put on a similar
demonstration in Anacortes,
Washington, in May 2012.
In conjunction with the
project, then senior Gage
Cain, who graduated in May,
wrote a rap song with lyr-
ics that included the phrase
“Break the Silence” and em-
phasized the importance of
treating others with respect
and confronting bullying.
That phrase, Break the
Silence, naturally fit as the
club’s title, Yates said.
president Celeste Kerr, vice
president Lola Paser-John-
son, treasurer Dalton Smith,
secretary Angel Dowell, fund-
raising director Jaedyn Bligh,
and communications director
Garret Kiser.
The club meets on Wednes-
days after class in the school
library.
Positivity, goodwill
and honor
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Break the Silence club president Celeste Kerr, vice president
Lola Paser- Johnson and communications director Garret Kiser
of Break the Silence. The club recently achieved official status
at Seaside High School.
“We thought, ‘that’s what
we want to call our group,
because that’s what we want
to be about,’” she added. “It’s
not anti-bullying, it’s pro-hon-
or; we want it to be a positive
thing, not an ‘anti-’ thing.”
As an official club, they
elected officers to serve during
the school year that include
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In large part, the club was
started as a response to the
rampant bullying and vio-
lence — which can mani-
fest in various ways — that
pervades not only schools
nationwide but other social
spheres, as well. According to
the United States Department
of Health and Human Ser-
vices’ StopBullying.gov web-
site, between one in four and
one in three U.S. students say
they’ve been bullied at school
on a basis of disability, sexu-
al orientation, race, religion
and/or gender. Most bullying
happens in middle school, and
the most common types are
verbal and social. Different
demographics of students are
affected at different rates.
To address the issue, how-
ever, Yates and the students
hoped to provide a group that
stressed a positive behavior in
lieu of focusing on the nega-
tive one. Members of Break
the Silence are seeking ways
to show others they are valued
and honored, despite differ-
ences. Their means of spread-
ing that message include put-
ting happiness magnets on the
lockers, and each month, they
will distribute cards with an af-
firming message to all students
with a birthday in that month.
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Seaside Signal/Cannon Beach Gazette • 3