Stadalsky: Minooka resident and Mrs. Albania International takes stand against bullying

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, one out of every four students has reported being bullied. But 64 percent of children bullied did not report it.

Students who are bullied are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties and poor school adjustment. They are twice as likely as non-bullied students to experience headaches and stomachaches.

But bullying hurts all kids. Those who bully are at increased risk for substance abuse, academic problems and violence.

Those kinds of statistics are ones that Minooka resident Vuli Ahmedi wants to change.

Ahmedi, who is Albanian and grew up in Switzerland, has lived in Minooka for seven years. As a mom, she worries about her own child. As Mrs. Albania International, she has taken bullying as her platform.

Ahmedi has held her title since March. Since then she has brought her efforts to the local communities because she wants to make a positive impact.

“I always heard stories about children being bullied and who have committed suicide,” she said. “It gets in my bones.”

Students victimized by their peers were 2.4 times more likely to report suicidal thinking. Both sides of bullying, whether victim or the perpetrator, put children in the highest risk group for adverse outcomes when it comes to suicide, according to reports on Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center.

Ahmedi has teamed up with Pacer to spread the message and raise awareness. Last school year she shared her anti-bullying message at Minooka Intermediate School and would like to do the same at other schools, she said.

She held an anti-bullying petition signing event at Minooka Village Hall in June and got 60 signatures of people promising to help spread the word and take a stand against bullying. The petition drive is just one of Pacer’s anti-bullying programs. Educators, students and parents can all participate and add their voice to the online digital petition.

Pacer’s website is full of stories from children who have been bullied and the effect it has had on them.

Ahmedi, who also is a model, shared a story told to her by a photographer friend.

The man had twin preteen daughters. One was athletic and the other wasn’t. The bullying took place in their home – one daughter against the other. The athletic sister, the one who bullied, ended up at a mental health clinic for a time.

With the proper help, things are better for the family, Ahmedi said.

“What this tells me is this happens in the family, too,” she said. “Not just in school and among classmates.”

The good news is half of bullying situations stop when a peer intervenes on behalf of the one being bullied. So it’s important to educate students, as well as teachers and parents, about ways to help one another and put a stop to the problem.

Ahmedi comes armed with tools and programs from Pacer, such as activities and DVDs on how to deal with bullying, to share with schools and the community to face the problem head on.

She’s determined to spread the message in and around her community. The problem isn’t going to go away because people are afraid to talk about it.

“It’s a big problem,” Ahmedi said. “If you want to help, you can always find a way.”

• Kris Stadalsky writes about people and issues in areas southwest of Joliet. Reach her at writestuff56@comcast.net.