Tuesday’s public forum sparked debate about Shelby’s bullying policies and bathroom issues
A group of local religious officials held a public forum at Come To The Well Biblical Counseling Center in Shelby. This forum was led by Anthony Cooper, lead pastor at Life Church in Shelby. He started the meeting by giving a speech to welcome the community members and explain why he called it:
“Thank you all for joining us tonight to discuss the issue of restroom safety in the Shelby City Schools. I want to start by asking everyone to please be respectful of each other. We are not here to debate personal viewpoints or to criticize another individual for what they believe. We are here to discuss the emotional and physical safety of all of our students in the Shelby City Schools.”
“As a community, we need to work together to find solutions for the current situation revolving around students who are transgender using the restroom that is biologically incorrect. But what we need to all realize is this situation is just a catalyst for the actual problem: bullying in the restrooms. Many of our almost 1,300 students do not feel safe, emotionally and physically, in the restrooms due to the ongoing bullying of individuals who are labeled “different.” This could be a gay student, a disabled or transgender student, it could be one known as a ‘geek’ or of lower socioeconomic status. It could be a girl who just got braces or a boy who is more feminine than his peers. It can be anyone!”
“Currently the uproar is over transgenders but let’s be honest…the restrooms in a school setting are dangerous. There is no one monitoring interactions, there are fights, drug use, vaping, drama, threats, and FEAR. Many students refuse to use the restroom at school out of fear; this is emotionally scarring and physically unhealthy.”
“Bullying has been around for decades; restrooms in the schools have been a breeding ground for bullying yet we continue to build communal restrooms with the expectation that students will be safe. The school board has designated two beautiful buildings for our students, however they failed when they did not privatize the restrooms. We send our kids to school to learn, in order to learn they must be in a safe environment. Our schools are not meeting this expectation. Students are afraid to walk down the halls, afraid to enter the restrooms, afraid to be alone in the cafeteria, afraid to tell teachers they are being threatened or bullied. This goes for ALL students.”
“Many of us here tonight have children or grandchildren currently in the school system, some of us were raised in this school system. Let’s work together to make Shelby schools healthier for all students.”
“Tonight, our goal is to come together to find potential solutions to present to our School Board. If you have something that you would like to say that may be a potential solution or have a question you would like addressed, please raise your hand and you will be called upon. Please remember we need to leave time for everyone to have a chance to share their thoughts. Again, we ask that you remain respectful to everyone present tonight. As a community we need to come together to make the school setting a place of safety for the purpose of learning.”
While Cooper may have given his speech with good intentions and most attendees were in agreement that something needs to be done in reference to bullying issues, the public forum went about the way you would expect. A local counselor who works closely with the students at Shelby City Schools spoke next saying that the bullying is “out of hand.” She mentioned seeing children of all ages, backgrounds, sexualities, races, and bullying is a problem for most of them.
She told stories of several students, including her own son, who have been too afraid to use the restroom at school because of the issues that happen in the bathrooms. Another counselor with Family Life Counseling who sees children from Shelby City Schools said she is overrun with students and believes
Areal Joy is the owner of Thistle and Oak Tattoo Studio in downtown Shelby located at 36 E. Main St. She, along with Kota Grey, Shawnee Lyles, Gibby Kain, Rae Carroll, and Cait von Haase operate a LGBTQ+ friendly shop. Areal took over ownership of the tattoo shop last year and changed the name from Gypsy Rose to Thistle and Oak. She explains the process of acquiring the shop as something that just made sense. She started tattooing at Gypsy Rose about six months after it first opened and had been managing the shop for the last five years.
The former owner moved away and opened a new shop in Akron and did not have many dealings with the shop in Shelby anymore. “I was the only person that had worked with her that loved the shop as much as she did, so it just made natural sense to just pass it down. We built it up together so it was kind of fun getting to see it continue,” Areal said. She explained that making the shop a welcoming environment is important to their brand. “A lot of us here didn’t really have a safe space so that was kind of our common goal. We want to provide a safe place for people to express themselves whether it be artists or clients,” she said.
Areal loves the people she works with, saying they are like her family. “I spend more time with them than I do my biological family, minus my kids,” she said. When you walk into Thistle and Oak, you do get a sense of family members/best friends getting together to do what they love every day. Areal also mentioned that she loves being a part of the Shelby community. They have formed relationships with other small businesses including Ivory Bean and The Vault. “Community is very important to me. I feel like that’s something we really need to bring back. People need to care about