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Last week I wrote about how each of my children participated in a writing contest called Find Your Voice!, a letter writing contest run by their elementary school and Seymour Osman Community Center (SOCC). The objective was to find a social topic to research, then write a letter to someone in an authoritative position who would have some sort of experience or knowledge or influence regarding that chosen topic.

My nine-year-old daughter, Maddy, wrote to the superintendent of our school district about school bullying. She was one of the top three finalists. (My son, Riley, also won.) Maddy’s donation will go to the school’s anti-bullying program.

When doing research on anti-bullying, Maddy found this website for LaNiyah Bailey, a 7-year-old author and anti-bullying advocate. A victim of  bullying herself, LaNiyah took matters into her own hands to spread awareness and help other kids who have been bullied, too.

I love seeing kids get involved to make their community a better place. Kudos to LaNiyah and the adults who have encouraged her for fighting the problem of bullying in a positive, helpful way.

Here is Maddy’s winning entry:

Hi! I’m Madeleine, a third grader in New Hampshire. I’m going to talk about bullying. Bullying is a big problem that upsets me, and I bet a lot of other people too.

Once when I was in first grade, there was a boy who was mean to me. I was getting a drink from the water fountain, and he shoved me out of the way. I was really angry, and told him that he had hurt me. But of course, he didn’t have any reaction. The next day, he cornered me at the slide, and wouldn’t let me get off. Then, another pushing incident occurred. He shoved me out of line when we were heading back from art class and told me to go to the end.

I finally had it. I was furious! I came home in tears and explained to my mom what was happening. My mom called my teacher, and my teacher talked with my principal and the guidance counselor. They worked together and talked to the boy, and he stopped bullying me.

I know he stopped bullying me because the school supports bullying prevention. I love that my school is now hosting a free after-school enrichment program in conjunction with *** Black Belt Academy. I hope that this program will grow and reach all the kids in our community. I hope that you will work to make sure that wonderful programs like this will always be available to kids in our school system.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my letter. Thank you for thinking about how we can make sure anti-bullying programs will be a continued success in our community.

Sincerely, Madeleine