Stonybrook Bully Busters

Bullying is a serious problem plaguing adolescents all over the country. While many view it as just a normal part of childhood, those children that are affected will beg to differ.

For those children at Stony Brook Elementary School in Kinnelon, NJ, facing the very real and everyday struggle of bullying, there has been a special group that has emerged. This group, an answer to many of these children prayers, is the Stony Brook Bully Busters.

Started by two grade school students, Jen Jacko and Nick Rymarz, a former principal, Mark Mongon, and Joy Tenga, a school counselor, the Stony Brook Bully Busters is a program/ club dedicated to putting an end to bullying and educating 4th and 5th graders on bullying prevention.

In just its second year of the program, the Bully Busters has had an immediate impact in the community. With already over 150 4th and 5th graders meeting once a week to discuss various issues, the program will continue to expand as those current participants graduate to middle school and a new class is welcomed in. With this continued cycle, a positive, anti-bullying attitude is adopted and passed on as long as the club exist.

You don’t need a big budget, or a big staff, to address the issue of bullying.

Stony Brook Bully Busters operate under zero-economic cost, with their weekly meetings facilitated by a student and an on-staff professional counselor. While the influence they have is tremendous, bettering lives one child at a time, remarkably, they are getting it done without an extensive amount of resources.

The Stony Brook Bully Busters provides a voice for those children often silenced. The program not only instills confidence in many of these grade school students, but locally can potentially put an end to the epidemic of bullying.