CHAPTER 12

At first Kurt thinks that it’s just his imagination, but then two weeks later someone comments on it out loud, and it turns out that everyone’s noticed how many teachers there seem to be in the halls in between classes, how they seem to pay attention during lunch and recess. Someone saw Miss Pilsbury and Mr. Schue conferring with other teachers in the counselor’s office, someone else heard about a shouting match between Principal Figgins and Coach Sylvester – which wouldn’t be that weird in itself but Coach Beiste was there, too, apparently on Sue’s side for once. All in all, it feels like something big is coming, but no one knows what it can be.

The mystery is solved when an assembly is announced after lunch break next Monday. When everyone has finally gathered in the gym, it’s both coaches that stand in front of them by the microphone, a stiff-looking Principal Figgins behind them, pretending to be in control.

Coach Sylvester takes a place at the microphone and begins bluntly.

“You all probably wonder why you are gathered here today. I’ll tell you why, but first, let me give you some statistics.” She doesn’t have any notes, shoots out the numbers from memory. “One out of every four teenagers is bullied, one out of five admits to bullying others. Most of you have probably experienced or witnessed bullying here at school, or cyberbullying while online. Many of you may be afraid to go to school on any given day because of being bullied; some of you may feel anxious or depressed, or have even thought about taking your life at some point because of bullying, either at school or on the internet.”

Kurt feels his heart pick up speed – so his suggestions had been taken into consideration. He only hopes that it won’t end with just an assembly. Mere words are never enough; he looks around to see the main perpetrators sitting there with bored expressions, playing with their phones or talking quietly. Karofsky seems to be napping, Azimio is very busy trying to place a wad of gum as deep as possible in a thin, bespectacled girl’s hair without her noticing. Coach Sylvester continues with her speech.

“It’s been brought to my attention that the problem of bullying at McKinley is pretty bad, and I was asked to consider taking action to change it. And let me tell you, I’m glad someone made me see the expanse of the problem.” Her eyes flicker to the group of cheerios up front, and Kurt can feel her eyes on him for a second. “This past week all of us teachers took care to look for signs of bullying on school grounds. The school network administrator was also asked to go through school computers to check for any proof of cyberbullying. I suspect we haven’t seen half of it, because of increased teacher presence in the hallways, but what we saw, heard and read was more than enough.”

There are whispers around now, and some worried glances among the football and hockey teams. Not without a reason, Kurt knows. In the last week Blaine alone was slushied twice, and when he logged into his facebook once when they were done with their homework, Kurt saw several notes with slurs and hateful words that made his blood boil. Blaine just deleted them calmly, explaining that he gets them all the time.

And there are dozens more like him.

“This ends today.” Couch Sylvester’s firm tone jolts Kurt back to the present. “We are here to tell you that starting now, we are introducing a new strict anti-bullying policy here at McKinley. One that you really don’t want to go against.”

The voices are more audible now, some excited, some annoyed, a few sarcastic, and Kurt grips the edge of the bench beside him with white-knuckled fingers as he listens.

“I won’t go into all the details now – they will be explained during the obligatory anti-bullying classes that you will all have this week. You will learn how to prevent bullying and react to it, what to report and to whom, and you will be made to see and recognize what bullying is and what it can cause. Right now, you just need to know the basic rules and consequences of not following them, which Coach Beiste will explain to you. This school is going to become free from all forms of abuse – verbal, physical, psychological, virtual. All of it. It will not be accepted. That means the teachers as well – including me.” She stares at them hard. “I have been a bully, and I recognize that. Today, I apologize to all of you whom I may have offended, and I promise to stop. Coach Beiste, the floor is yours”

The heavy-set football coach approaches the microphone now. Kurt knows that she can be kind and nice, but now, all she looks is hard and fierce.

“Okay guys, the rules are simple: any case of bullying will be immediately punished. No warnings or slaps on the hand either. It’s suspension, plain and simple, and it will be put on your permanent record. Any threats, harassment or hate crimes will be reported to the police who are happy to be working with us on this system. And because we’re well aware that most of the bullies are either on the sports or cheerleading teams, I want it to be clear that even one incident gets you off the team, permanently and without a second chance.” This causes gasps and outraged exclamations among the jocks – so she raises her voice and the commotion stops. “Sport is not just about talent and practice – it’s about fair play and setting an example, too. If you are a bully, you don’t deserve to be called a sportsman. School is supposed to be a safe place, let’s all make an effort to make it so. Thank you.”

Things aren’t perfect in a day, of course. First, there are lessons and class discussions and handouts with rules and statistics, there’s roleplaying and videos and testimonials (many of which Kurt recognizes as coming from the website he focused on in his research and suggestions – the Stomp out Bullying program). There’s frustration visible on many faces, and relief on even more; there’s initial fear to report things. But technology helps, and after the hockey team gets new members when two notorious bullies are suspended, everyone starts to get the idea. They become used to the fact that a picture or a recording, or even just a statement is the right reaction to incidents. Within two short weeks, McKinley feels like a new school.

A safe one. It will probably take a while before Glee kids stop keeping spare clothes in their lockers, but it’s a beginning.

Kurt knows Coach Sylvester isn’t all that selfless introducing the program – neither was he suggesting it in the first place. She told him herself that she has her reasons, political ones – but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that change is being made, and what may be just strategy for her, for dozens of kids in this school is a life-changing miracle.