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If you put in your time in middle school, you probably look back on those days with mixed emotions. Some of us consider it to be the best time in our life but others remember the bullying that took place during those days. It’s unfortunate, but those problems can stick with us for a lifetime.

I think that all people would readily admit that it is not okay to bully someone else and schools should be at the forefront when it comes to advocating for those who have been bullied.

Photo: flickr/woodleywonderworks

It seems as if Hancock Middle School, however, didn’t get the memo. When you look inside the pages of their yearbook, you see that they are actually advocating bullying in many ways.

The school made a statement to WLOX that said the yearbook is student led and published and has been an awarded yearbook in the past. They went on to say, however, that it is sponsor and administrator supervised. In other words, there is a teacher or administrator somewhere that is responsible for what goes into the yearbook.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

As is the case with most yearbooks, there were pictures of the students but there were questions included that allowed students to name their peers by things they didn’t like about them. As an example, the yearbook would ask, “Which friend would you not invite on Spring Break?” Answers were then included in the yearbook with the names of the students they wouldn’t invite and why.

Although a few students declined to answer those questions, there were some who did name other students, including giving reasons why they would not invite them. Those reasons included the individual being “not fun,” weird, or annoying.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

When the yearbook was published, parents were infuriated by what they saw. Even the school admits that the content is unacceptable, saying to wLOX, “This yearbook should not have included the sensitive and inappropriate comments. Hancock Middle School has already taken measures to ensure that this never happens again.”

There was someone who shared pictures of the yearbook on a Facebook post, but they did block out the names and pictures.

Photo: Facebook/Tia Katrina
Photo: Facebook/Tia Katrina
Photo: Facebook/Tia Katrina
Photo: Facebook/Tia Katrina
Photo: Facebook/Tia Katrina

As you can imagine, there were many people that were upset about what they saw on Facebook and left comments to express how disgraceful it was to humiliate kids in this way.