Steamers tackle bullying with kids

Bay of Plenty Steamers player Ziggy Fisi'ihoi inspires pupils at Malfroy School. Photo / File

Members of the Bay of Plenty Steamers ITM Cup team were in Rotorua last week and visited a number of local schools to share anti-bullying messages. We asked some pupils from Malfroy School to write what they thought of the visit.

"I thought the Steamers visiting us was fun because we got to get free tickets and ask questions about them. We learned more about anti-bullying, and the chant they made up with tips for stopping people from bullying other people was really cool."

Hannah, Room 13

- "I thought that the Steamers visit was cool because they spoke to us about anti-bullying and even taught us a chant about it. They made us want to listen to them because it was funny and entertaining. After their visit, my class kept saying the three ways to stop bullying: Stand up, Team up and Speak up."

Miyume, Room 13

- "I thought the Steamers visit was an awesome experience. It was really inspiring to me and the school. I bet the more you inspire the school, anti-bullying will help students at Malfroy School. The Steamers coming up with this idea is one of the best ideas I've ever heard. The school really enjoyed the song and that is a good idea of helping remember the three ways to help stop bullying, 'Stand up, Team up, and Speak up'. I also liked how Mrs Maclaren kept us up to date with the 'Step Up' programme and going over the songs some more at our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) assembly."

Georgia Perrett, Room 13

- "Last week on Thursday, the Bay of Plenty Steamers came to visit Malfroy School to talk to us about anti-bullying. There are four kinds of bullying - physical, verbal, emotional and cyber. The players who came were Te Aihe Toma, Joe Royal, Zak Hohneck, Ziggy Fis'ihoi and their mascot Steamy. Their talk inspired me to want to represent my hometown and then, eventually, my country in rugby or league when I get older. My favourite part was the chant 'Stand up, Team up and Speak up'. I thought it was cool that the Steamers chose our school to come to, because it taught people about how much bullying can hurt someone's feelings. Go the Steamers."

PJ, Room 9

- "On Thursday, September 10, some of the Bay of Plenty Steamers Rugby team came to our school, and spoke to us about bullying. There were four players Zac, Ziggy, Te Aihe and Joe. The mascot Steamy and one of the young ambassadors (Maia from the women's team is also a student at JPC) came too.

Zac told us he was once a student at Malfroy School, and it was his dream to play rugby ... so we know dreams can come true if we work hard.

Daniel, Elijah and Dalton, Room 12