Women of all ages gathered to pray to stop bullying

Intermountain Catholic

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Women of all ages gathered at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Kearns for a living rosary to prevent bullying. The event was organized by the parish's Council of Catholic Women. IC photo/Laura Vallejo

KEARNS — The Council of Catholic Women of Saint Francis Xavier Parish organized a living rosary for 6th graders and older children with their families to pray to put an end to bullying in all forms.

"We were thinking, ‘How can we can attract younger girls; how can we bring young people in?’" said Sue Cook, a St. Francis Xavier parishioner and CCW member.

Cook said that after considering several issues, they settled on bullying as the theme.

"No matter where you are, bullying happens. … Cyber-bullying is terrible for girls. They are targets," said Cook, adding that the CCW members consider it very important to attract girls to the parish activities.

"They come to Church because they were cradle Catholics … and we want to get them involved with their Church," said Cook.

During the Oct. 10 living rosary, a long blue string was given to all the participants, who gathered in a circle. The color symbolized the bullying awareness.

With soft music and a lot of devotion the women prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary.

"Through the rosary, the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer," according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Haengly family was among the participants in the evening. Mother and daughter prayed the rosary together.

"She invited me to come here," said the mother, referring to the fact that her daughter is a student at Saint Francis Xavier School and she wanted to attend the event.

"I have been bullied," said the daughter.

Together they were very attentive to what Sgt. Julie Jorgenson, the guest speaker for the event, had to say.

Jorgenson, a West Valley Police Department officer, is a former parishioner of St. Francis Xavier as well as a former student of the parish school.

"Those of you who go to school here. … riding the bus with that flat jumper, long socks, [and] shiny shoes know what it is to be a target for bullying. … I was one," Jorgenson said.

"Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Teasing, name-calling, inappropriate comments, taunting, threatening to cause harm, hurting someone’s reputation or relationships, leaving someone out on purpose, telling other children not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors about someone, embarrassing someone in public, hitting, kicking, pinching, spitting, tripping, pushing, taking or breaking someone’s things, making mean or rude hand gestures – all are forms of bullying," she said.

Bullying at school causes enormous stress for many children and their families, and has long-term effects. It is associated with antisocial and criminal behavior; bullies are more likely to drop out of school and to engage in delinquent or criminal behavior. The victims are more likely to have higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression and illness, and an increased tendency to suicide, said Jorgenson, who suggested that those attending the rosary to always be open to communication and not be afraid to search for help. One resource she gave was the web page stopbullying.gov.