Marini Farm's Corn Maze Is All About Raising Bullying Awareness

 “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”-Judy Garland

Spookley, the square pumpkin, is bigger than life and is at the center of the 2014 Marini Farm Corn Maze. Marini Farm is focused on anti-bullying awareness and this year’s maze will publicize the importance of taking the right steps forward in stopping bullying.

The book The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin, by Joe Troiano, is the story about a very special unusually shaped pumpkin who teaches children that you can't judge a book, or a pumpkin, by its cover, and how being different or square is okay.  Spookley invites you to “Dare to Be Square” and embrace the beauty of being different! The book shows how sometimes it is better to be square. Spookley saved the day and all the other pumpkins from tumbling into the river during a mighty storm by wedging between the hole in the fence and stopping all the pumpkins from tumbling into the fast moving river.

School bullying statistics in the United States show that about one in four kids in the U.S. are bullied on a regular basis. Between cyberbullying and bullying at school, the school bullying statistics illustrate a huge problem with bullying and the American school system. About 80 percent of all high school students have encountered being bullied in some fashion online, and this has attributed to a rise in youth violence and suicides. Last month a 14-year-old teen from Florida took his own life to escape the pain from bullying. "Shaq was emotionally and physically abused while at school," Lamar's mother said. "They pushed him down stairs, knocked him out of his chair in the cafeteria … repeatedly attacked him with an intent to emotionally harm. Despite constant attacks, he never let the bullies see him sweat," Lamar's mother said. "We now know that he was unable to continue his fight against the bullies. They won, because he took his life as a result." When you google teen and children suicides believed to be caused by bullying, it is difficult to read the stories. These are beautiful innocent children who feel there is no way of escaping the horror of bullying.

Please join us in raising bullying awareness, and come to the farm matching Spookley and dress in orange in recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month. Special prizes will be awarded to the brightest orange maze visitors. We will be providing a donation to Stomp Out Bullying and welcome your contributions. Please leave your donation (cash and checks accepted) in an envelope marked “Stomp Out Bullying” at the maze hut.

The statistics continue to climb and the most alarming one is that 77 percent of students have experienced bullying at some point in their lives.

Bullying statistics:

• About 42 percent of kids have been bullied while online with one in four being verbally attacked more than once.
• About 35 percent of kids have been threatened online.
• About 58 percent of kids and teens have reported that something mean has been said about them or to them online.
• Other bullying statistics show that about 77 percent of students have admitted to being the victim of one type of bullying or another.

We encourage communities to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying by increasing awareness of the serious impact bullying has on innocent children of all ages. Our maze is a bully free zone!

Written by Lightning Consulting