After complaining of being bullied, a freshman boy recently attempted to hang himself in the boys’ locker room. The student council plans to meet Thursday to discuss the topic of adding an advisory period to prevent the issue of bullying.

“We were very fortunate that Coach Steede found the young man before he harmed himself,” principal Shai Tsur said. “This incident opened our eyes and showed us that we must act before one of our students seriously hurts himself or herself.”

A school policy states that a student who bullies another student will be suspended for three days and must attend five, one-on-one counseling sessions with a school counselor.

“I don’t believe we have tolerated bullies in the past, but I want an official discipline policy for students who bully,” Tsur said. “We will not stand for it. If students choose to bully, they will face stiff consequences.”

To make the advisory work out properly, Principal Tur plans to shorten lunch by 10 minutes and start school 10 minutes earlier.

“We don’t agree with an earlier start time for school or losing 10 minutes from lunch,” student council president Elisabel Cordero said. “I think students would prefer adding time to the end of the school day rather than starting earlier.”

In order to ensure small numbers, every teacher, administrator, librarian and counselor will have an advisory period.

“Mr. Tsur assured us that it would not be more work for us, and I believe him,” science teacher Olga Camps said. “It will be nice getting to know students on a deeper level.”

Separating genders is also being considered for the advisory period.
“[The} advisory period sounds like it will help students get to know each other better,” Cordero said. “If we are all friends, the bullying will stop.”