Say “no more,” TV talk queen tells classmates of tormented kid
You can complain to the principal, but few school administrator packs the power of Oprah Winfrey. Yesterday, the most powerful woman in American media spoke by Skype-link to 50 classmates of 13-year-old Chase Smith, who appeared on a show Oprah dedicated to the scourge of bullying. Smith’s tale of name-calling and bullying at St. Anthony School in Drayton Valley, Alta. reached the Chicago-based super-host by way of a letter from Chase’s mother. Yesterday, Oprah spoke directly to the victim’s peers, asking them to call out the meanies who pick on him. “I’m not asking you to become the keeper for Chase,” she said. “I’m just asking that when you see other people doing things that they shouldn’t be doing that you stand up and say: ‘Hey, that’s not cool.'” The kids listened, but a couple suggested young Chase wasn’t the easiest kid to to defend. “I’ve tried to help you,” said one boy. “You told me to leave you alone.”