There is no doubt that as more teens’ lives revolve around social media, cyber bullying also becomes exceedingly common among adolescents. To tackle the rising issue, Peer Counseling has decided to host its DB Forum this year emphasizing the dangers of cyber bullying. The semi-annual event, which was held last Friday, focused on challenging negative stereotypes and addressed prevalent issues surrounding cyberbullying.

Throughout the day, various activities such as icebreakers and student-led skit performances took place. Students were encouraged to break down social barriers by challenging their preconceptions of other people and discussing it with other group members.

“Our goal was to raise awareness of cyber bullying. People tend to ignore it and think it’s not as bad as it is,” Peer Counseling senior Keerit Kohli said. “We want to teach kids how to respond. People don’t understand that sometimes, when you are confronting people on sites like Ask.fm or Tumblr that it exacerbates the problem and makes it worse.”

After the skits, the attendees were encouraged to think of ideas to make a better Diamond Bar High School and work against cyberbullying.

“It was very eye opening and it was really nice to learn things about people I would never meet,” sophomore attendee Savannah de Leon said. “I think cyberbullying is stupid and it’s eye opening to see that so many people have been cyberbullied.”

DB Forum was created by Peer Counseling advisor Sandy Davis to challenge positive-negative stereotypes and discuss challenging teen issues. It is entirely student-led by the DBHS Peer Counseling group and the adults that supervise the event merely assist the Peer Counselors. Around 100 students had applied to attend the event.

“It’s a way for students to talk about what they feel is most important,” Davis explained.

To reflect on their experiences at DB Forum, the students also attended a follow up meeting yesterday during lunch. The meeting was for students to meet up again with their fellow peers, see if they addressed the issues they planned on taking action on, and to watch a slideshow at the end of the event.

“Peer Counseling works really hard all year long to make this event very special for the kids who attend Diamond Bar High School and those who do attend say they say it’s a life changing experience and they always have a good time,” Peer Counseling junior Bavani Sridhar said. “Those who don’t go really should because it’s an experience of a life time.”