Teacher Hopes to Erase Social Cruelty with Get.A.Voice Foundation

The idea of bullying is not a new one, but Laurie Mendel has a new name for it: social cruelty.

"Language used today is so much more powerful and vicious at school," said Mendel, an art teacher at Murphy Junior High School. "Teasing and bullying have been around forever, we know that. With technology and the media ... the social cruelty crisis has really escalated."

Mendel is the founder and CEO of the Get.A.Voice Foundation, an organization she established in 2003 to tackle the growing problem of bullying in schools. 

The Dignity for All Students Act, a New York State law which went into effect in July of 2012, requires schools to incorporate anti-bullying education into their curricula,  address bullying in codes of conduct, and appoint an anti-bullying coordinator in each school building.

Get.A.Voice has grown into a nonprofit foundation that has piloted programs in 17 schools on Long Island, and serves as the character education component of the Dignity for All Students Act at Murphy Junior High.

"Get.A.Voice is really about shifting social norms," Mendel said. "It’s looking at what is and finally seeing how, through language, we can really create compassionate cultures and support students to speak up."

Via the organization's website, Mendel shared the background story of its inception: 

"I remember the moment my worldview shifted as a teacher. There I was on the playground early in the school year during lunch duty. I noticed three 4th graders running back and forth between a group of kids on the basketball court and a girl sitting by herself on the swing set. Although I didn’t know many of the kids’ names yet, something did not look quite right. I wasn’t sure if they were fighting, or helping, or if they were even all friends. I wondered why the girl on the swing looked so upset and why the kids on the court were laughing? And what was the role of the three kids running back and forth like messengers? The other teachers on duty were talking with each other when I approached another teacher Mr. M to ask him if he knew what was going on. He said, 'Mandel, I know you’re new, but let me give you one piece of advice. Don’t get involved! You need to let the kids work it out for themselves!' I guess I was naïve. Let them work it out for themselves? That made no sense to me. How are kids supposed to work through these peer interactions, especially at such a young age, without adults helping them or guiding them?"

Now, the Get.A.Voice Foundation is turning up the volume on its anti-bullying campaign: On Thursday, the organization will host a fundraiser party at the Thatched Cottage in Centerport at 6:30 p.m., honoring Don McPherson, a motivational speaker and former NFL quarterback. Singer Leah Laurenti of American Idol fame has even recorded a theme song for the organization, called "Give Me a Voice" and written by Get.A.Voice team member Rosemarie Kluepfel.

Get.A.Voice aims to take its message beyond Long Island.

"Our goals for the foundation are to launch a national campaign and to develop a parent program as well as teacher training and student workshops," Mendel said.

Debbi Rakowsky, a social worker and DASA coordinator at Murphy Junior High who works with Mendel by doing Get.A.Voice training in other schools, said the value of such a program is tremendous.

"It basically helps kids stand up for themselves and others," she said. "We’re trying to teach kids to find their own voice or help stand up for someone else when they see any kind of social cruelty."