Curiosity stormed all students’ minds on during seventh period on Aug.15, as they heard Principal Doug Dall’s disappointed voice from the PA system, asking all sophomores to attend a meeting in the amphitheater. Thinking they were almost done for the day, most sophomores did not anticipate an unpleasant message from Dall under the scorching sun.

According to sophomore Levon Gevorkian, they were called down to be told about “Freshman Friday,” the first Friday of the school year where the freshman class gets bullied by the upperclassmen. However, Dall affirmed at the assembly that anyone who attempts to bully others will be suspended immediately.

“I support what Mr. Dall said, because when I was a freshman I saw some of my peers get bullied and felt bad for them,” Gevorkian said. “Students should stand up against bullying.” Gevorkian also said that he felt upset that only the sophomore class was lectured about this event, since he said he had seen older students give others a hard time as well.

Dall’s speech about anti-bullying was not untimely, either. Freshmen Marco Magardichian and Hagop Hovannessian said that earlier that week a sophomore had bullied some freshmen during lunchtime by throwing orange juice at them. This student was caught by Assistant Principal Lena Kortoshian and soon disciplined, according to these students.

“Informing students about the harms of bullying is not enough and higher consequences should be set for students who bully,” Hovannessian said. Magardichian said that this student was suspended for several days.

“All schools have bullying, but it is not a big problem here at Clark,” Health teacher Randy Tiffany said. “And for this reason, when something like this happens, we blow it out of proportions and make a big deal out of it.”

Tiffany said that when a problem such as bullying happens in school, the staff immediately takes care of it. According to Tiffany, sophomores feel the need to bully their underclassmen because they had been bullied themselves when they were freshmen, and it is easier to hurt the freshmen since both grades hang out near each other.

Tiffany said that all students should to speak up against bullies so the staff can take care of the issue right away.