Iris Zhao takes the first steps to beat bullying BY JESSICA CAO
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reshman Iris Zhao’s mother was going through the mail when she opened a standard FedEx envelope, read “$5000” on the enclosed letter, assumed a scam was involved, and made to toss the package away. Her daughter had in fact just won Epiduo*Gel, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center and Seventeen magazine’s Banish Bullying contest, and the $5000 in prize money would be donated to Lynbrook. If Zhao had not curiously picked up the discarded mail, she may have been extremely confused upon reading Principal John Dwyer’s congratulatory email. “I was in denial until an hour after I read the letter,” said Zhao. “Actually, I’m still kind of in denial.” Her 150-word tip on banishing bullying will be printed in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of Seventeen. Zhao, who was bullied from second through
cool if her tip was posted on the website. “I just truthfully wrote about what I experienced and everything I’d learned over the years from teachers, friends and speakers at school, so it came pretty easily--I finished in about ten minutes,” Zhao said. “Then I just submitted it to the entry form on their website about two days before the contest ended.” Dana DiStefano, Senior Promotion Manager at Seventeen, said, “Seventeen received over 300 entries for the Banish Bullying contest but were drawn to Iris’s tip due to the heartfelt, genuine advice she provided along with the originality of her confidence-boosting plan to Banish Bullying in her social circles and networks.” Although a decision has not yet been made about spending the prize money, the official contest rules state that the money must “be used toward various initiatives, such as a new gym floor, new marching band uniforms, etc.” Dwyer suggested inviting an anti-bullying speaker to come to Lynbrook, since Zhao believed her experience with an anti-bullying speaker event held at Miller Middle School helped bring classmates together. Students who had been bullied were asked to share their experiences. “I really related to them, and I think the bullies understood better what they’d done to their victims,” said Zhao. “I haven’t experienced bullying [at Lynbrook] and everyone’s been pretty nice, but I think in many places it’s an underground issue that should be talked about.”
“Offer a smile to let them know you care, a shoulder to lean or cry on if they ever need anything, and be their friend.” eighth grade about
JOEY LI — EPIC
her appearance, writes about teen issues such as depression and stress in her spare time. “People would always tell me how weird and gross I apparently looked,” Zhao said. “There was more importance placed on popularity at my old schools, and I wasn’t exactly at the top.” She saw a full-page ad in the August 2013 issue of Seventeen and thought submitting for the contest would be fun and that it would be