October is also National Bullying Prevention Month in the U.S.
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
October is National Bullying Prevention Month in the United States and a farm family from Atkins, IA is doing its part to spread messages of kindness and inclusion.
Specifically, they’ve designed a 10-acre corn maze to reflect the message of anti-bullying.
The maze features a circle with a line through the word “BULLYING,” similar to a no smoking sign. The words “BULLYING HURTS” appear above the maze. Visitors to the attraction will find anti-bullying messages and a “buddy bench” to take a rest on with others.
The family hopes visitors will leave the farm with a more positive outlook towards others, says Jessica Petersen, manager of Bloomsbury Farm, which her parents own.
“With the number of people we bring to the farm every year, we wanted to spread a message about anti-bullying because it’s becoming a big problem,” she told Farms.com today. “We have a lot of kids come through so we wanted to expose them to messages of kindness and acceptance.”
Bloomsbury Farm hosted a corn maze kickoff event last weekend. A group of students from Kennedy High School who are dedicated to anti-bullying and community building initiatives participated in the event.
“(The student group) is called Kinder Kennedy,” Petersen said. “They were at the farm writing kind and personal messages to people. And they were all wearing blue, which is the official colour of anti-bullying.”
The corn maze is open to the public until Oct. 31.
If you’re in need of anti-bullying resources, they can be found at www.stopbullying.gov.