Last year, we held a contest for students across the district to create an anti-bullying poster to be featured at all our schools. The winning design features a sketch of a large face and a single tear running down the cheek, with the simple words: “Bullying Hurts! Stop It.”

We chatted with the artist, Miguel Gomez, a sixth-grader at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School.

What led you to make this poster?

One day (at Cleveland Elementary School) we were reading an article about how a girl was bullied and then killed herself. It made me think harder about how when you get bullied it hurts, and you also think that when you say something, the bully may do something worse.

Why did you enter the contest?

I was in Art Club and one of my teachers told me about the contest. I thought about how in first grade I was bullied because of my English. I came to this country seven years ago from El Salvador and was just starting to learn English.

So for the poster, I drew a face with a tear because I remember feeling hurt.  No one likes getting bullied, and sometimes people even kill themselves because they’re afraid of other people.  

What would you do now if you saw someone getting bullied?

I would help him and then tell a grown-up.

What do you want to do in the future?

I would like to be a soccer player or a policeman. A soccer player because I like soccer, and a policeman so that I can help other people.