The New York Public Schools Anti-Bullying campaign, Kindness over Bullies, is dedicated to building a school culture where respect, inclusion and safety are non-negotiable. By empowering students as upstanders, we inspire them to take an active role in promoting respect for differences, confronting bullying head-on, and fostering a truly supportive, bully-free environment.
Embedded Files
Respect for All at McKinley
About the Respect for All initiative
NYC Public Schools' program: "Respect for All" is a city-wide program that aims to build a more inclusive and understanding school environment.
Combating discrimination: It works to prevent and address discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying through reporting mechanisms and educational programs.
Promoting diversity: The initiative encourages the celebration of diversity and the thoughtful discussion of sensitive topics.
McKinley actively participates in "Respect for All" with events and themed days to promote inclusivity, empathy, and kindness among our school community.
McKinley's Respect for All Liaison: Ms. Gennaoui
Our Respect for All Liaison supports two major student groups that champion inclusivity and positive culture across the building:
Student Council
Student Council
Student Council leads schoolwide awareness campaigns, creates messaging around kindness and respect, and develops ideas for making our school community stronger and more unified. They help plan theme days, morning announcements, and student-centered initiatives that encourage everyone to take an active role in shaping our school climate.
Starfish Club
Starfish Club
Inspired by the idea that “every small act makes a difference,” the Starfish Club focuses on kindness, anti-bullying efforts, and celebrating what makes our community unique. Students organize events, coordinate service activities, highlight cultural leaders during morning announcements, and participate in citywide contests that encourage reflection and empathy.
Cultural Events & Community Building
Cultural Events & Community Building
International Food Festival
International Food Festival
On October 16, 2025, McKinley hosted its largest International Food Festival yet, welcoming hundreds of students and families to share dishes representing the many cultures in our building. This event celebrates the diversity that makes our school so special and strengthens connections across our community.
Celebrations Throughout the Year
Celebrations Throughout the Year
Throughout the school year, student leaders coordinate a variety of initiatives including:
Anti-bullying essay and art contests
Cultural and heritage spotlights
Positivity and kindness campaigns
Door-decorating competitions
Schoolwide challenges that celebrate inclusivity and teamwork
These activities give students a voice and offer opportunities for them to lead, inspire, and model what respect looks like at McKinley.
Respect for All Week: February 9–13, 2026
Respect for All Week: February 9–13, 2026
Every February, McKinley joins schools across NYC for Respect for All Week, a dedicated time to highlight and deepen the work we do all year long. Each day focuses on a theme connected to acceptance, diversity, and safety:
Celebrating Kindness / Be an Ally
Anti-Bullying & Cyberbullying Awareness
Respect for Diversity (including race, religion, and disability)
Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, LGBTQ+ Pride & Acceptance
National No One Eats Alone Day (Friday, February 13, 2026)
During this week, students participate in classroom activities, reflection opportunities, campaigns, and community-building events that reinforce our shared responsibility to treat others with dignity, empathy, and respect.
WHAT IS BULLYING?
WHAT IS BULLYING?
Bullying is more than disagreements, differences of opinion, or conflicts that occur between friends and classmates.
Bullying definitions typically include:
The person is being hurt, harmed, or humiliated with words or behavior
The behavior may be a single incident or a series of repeated incidents or there is a concern that it will be repeated
The behavior is being done intentionally
The person being hurt has a hard time stopping or preventing the behavior
The hurtful behavior is carried out by those who have more power, such as being older, being physically bigger or stronger, having more social status, or when a group of students single out an individual
Bullying includes, but is not limited to, behavior that targets students because of their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship/immigration status, religion, creed, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or weight.
Bullying includes but is not limited to:
Physical violence;
Stalking;
Verbal or physical conduct that threatens another with harm;
Threats, hazing, taunting, aggressive, or menacing gestures;
Exclusion from peer groups designed to humiliate or isolate;
Using derogatory language or making derogatory jokes or name calling to humiliate or harass;
Posting or electronically circulating written or graphic material that is derogatory toward others (cyberbullying);
Deliberately using a name, mispronouncing a name or using a pronoun in a manner that discriminates, harasses, bullies, or intimidates.
Bullying Can be Physical
Bullying Can be Physical
This form of bullying is usually visible, and therefore easy to recognize. Think about the stereotypical movie scenes when someone knocks someone else’s books out of their hands or pushes them up against a locker.
Examples of physical bullying include pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking, biting, hair pulling, inappropriate touching, breaking objects, and taking or damaging another’s possessions.
Bullying Can be Verbal
Bullying Can be Verbal
Using words, either out loud or in writing, is a common type of bullying because it’s quick, often done impulsively to elicit a response (and getting a response is typically the goal of bullying).
Verbal bullying is also easier to do without catching the attention of adults, making it harder to detect and more difficult to reprimand.
Examples include teasing, name calling, threats, intimidation, demeaning jokes, rumors, gossip, and slander—all of which can occur both in person or online.
Bullying Can be Emotional
Bullying Can be Emotional
Emotional bullying can be subtle and difficult to detect. It’s calculated and manipulative. It can be perpetuated by a single person but is more often executed by a group.
Emotional bullying can be extremely damaging and traumatic. It’s targeted at a person’s sense of self, causing them to question their self-worth and usually results in low or a complete lack of self-esteem.
Emotional bullying, whether it’s done in-person or online, could be excluding someone from a group or purposely leaving them out of activities, threatening to hurt or harm someone, telling lies in order to hurt another person’s reputation, or humiliating someone publicly.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying
Bullying can also happen through social media, texts, and photos shared via phones, tablets, or computers.
When technology is used to bully someone, it’s called cyberbullying.
Specific instances of cyberbullying include sending mean text messages, making fun of someone’s post, sharing videos, stories, or photos that ridicule or humiliate someone, “trolling” someone to the point of harassment, posting personal information about someone else on the internet, and spreading rumors or gossip.
It may be a single incident or a series of related incidents
Bullying Is Not Conflict
Bullying Is Not Conflict
What should I do if my friend or I are being bullied ?
What should I do if my friend or I are being bullied ?
Be an Upstander, Someone who find a caring adult and reports the behavior.
Most important don’t fight back. Calmly tell the person to stop, and or say nothing and then walk away
Don’t show emotions and don’t get physical
Find our Respect for All Liaison - Ms. Gennaoui or a Caring Adult and let them know what happened
rfa-parents-as-partners.pptxMORE RESOURCES TO COME
Report abuse