Choir teacher bringing back the harmony and standing up to bullying

ROSSVILLE, Ind. (WLFI) - Rossville Middle and High School choir teacher Ben Waltz said his past experience with bullying influenced his decision to study the topic while pursuing his masters degree last summer.

He then took what he found while researching the topic to a school board meeting.

"The first thing that needs to happen is dialogue and that's why I presented it to the school board meeting," Waltz said. "We should be talking about this and we shouldn't be afraid of it and we shouldn't be accepting of it. This is something we can do something about."

That something, according to Waltz, may come down to simply defining what exactly bullying is and how teachers should react to it.

"One of the most interesting things that I've found is that people know that bullying is bad, but not knowing what to do and one of the most important things that I've found is that people need to have a uniform definition of what we're going to accept as acceptable behavior and what we're not going to accept," the choir teacher said.

Rossville High School principal Jeff Hoover said while there's not a high incidence of it, there is bullying at the high school. Something he said you'll find in every school, but what you might not find is someone like Waltz who's working to start the discussion of bullying with all faculty and staff.

Hoover said he didn't realize the long term effects of bullying until hearing Waltz's presentation.

"Not only on our kids currently, but what Mr. Waltz discovered the impact that it has even in their adult lives from what occurs while at high school, so I think it really makes it important to us," Hoover said.

Waltz will be hosting a discussion and presentation about bullying for faculty and staff later this month.