by Venie Gaki and Christina Bakoyannis

tions and implementing ideas and projects that will have to do with the well-being of peers.

In the Honor Code Club we believe that when passionate, intelligent, and proactive kids and teens gather and work together, things can and will change. Our dream is to spread kindness and deliver the message to the whole Middle School that mutual respect is the key to a healthy teenage and adult life in the future.

Despite this year’s difficulties and challenges, the Honor Code Club was very active indeed! Among the many wonderful projects our members were involved in, the most ambitious project of all was when the Middle School students participated in a survey and watched a presentation related to the use of social media and the increase of cyber-bullying during the pandemic. Both the survey and the presentation were created by the Honor Code Club members after thorough research. Sofia Floriou, Alexia Terezaki, Tanya Omer, Hadi Al- Saedi and Selin Ucan conducted thorough research and created a presentation that all Middle School students watched during an Advisory Class in March. Through this presentation, the aforementioned students gave further insight into several areas that pertain to the extensive use of social media. They explained the reasons why adolescents are vulnerable to social media addiction and they discovered that, during the pandemic, when adolescents were forced to sit in front of a screen practically all day, the use of social media was increased by 72% and posting by 43%; online gaming showed an increase of 40%, and sadly, cyberbullying, an alarming increase of 70%!

The presentation was one that any professional would envy! The students raised awareness regarding cyberbullying; they clarified the responsibilities of the victim and the bystander, but they also did research on the laws that exist in various countries against online harassment. The students provided ideas and suggestions about what to do in order to neither be intimidated by the use of social media nor naive or gullible when using them. However, the Honor Code Club did not stop there...Xin Yang Chen, Vasiliki Drakou, Platon Georgopoulos, Luca Grubacic, Nikola Koutsikou

Why Is Maintaining Integrity, Honor And Respect During The Pandemic Necessary?

by Venie Gaki and Christina Bakoyannis, Members of the Honor Code Club & Advisors

The Honor Code Club is a Middle School Club that helps children build character and demonstrate cooperation by working with others on a variety of projects. The Honor Code Club promotes values and virtues like courtesy, resilience, respect and concern for others, by working closely with charity organiza-

and Avra Petrou designed a survey that was taken by 158 Middle Schoolers. They wanted to see if our ACS Middle School student body was aware of issues such as cyberbullying or if they knew who to contact in case they witnessed such an incident or in case that they were victims of cyberbullying. They wanted to see if they knew about the facets of cyberbullying or if they were aware of the fact that there are anti-bullying online tools that protect young people. The last part of the survey was the most interesting of all the four parts; the students were asked about what they still wonder about. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that the students were happy with the presentation and the survey, there are still questions of great concern that stand out :

“Why do people have to bully others? Why do they wish to make others feel insecure?”

“Is it ever going to stop?”

“Can we start an anti-bullying club where we help kids that have been bullied?” “I wonder why people don’t seek help”

“I wonder if we are making a big deal out of this…”

“Can we discover who the online bully is?”

“Why does school have to deal with it?”

Well, it looks like we still have a lot of work to do….. but we are committed to answering all of the questions next year. Those of you wish to be part of a great cause, join us!

We have a dream, and it is more than just a dream, it is a plan; a plan that is becoming a reality…

ACS Students are doing “the right thing when no one is watching”! Be the change and inspire others to do the same!