As a basketball and baseball player at Cherry Hill High School East, David Golkow has experienced first-hand what goes on behind the closed doors of the locker room.
While he knew there were many positives with playing on a high school sports team, he also saw the negatives, particularly regarding bullying.
Motivated by the movie “Bully” and the anti-bullying work of former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, Golkow was ready to take a stand against bullying in the world of high school sports.
Last December, Golkow founded Athletes Against Bullying, an organization dedicated to ending harassment and hatred on sports teams at Cherry Hill East.
The Philadelphia Phillies recently recognized his efforts, as they named Golkow the winner of their “Extraordinary Scholar” contest for 2014.
“I decided that my high school needed something to stop bullying because we have had issues in the past,” he said. “This is something that could really help stop bullying on our sports teams.”
Golkow’s mission was to gather as many teammates, friends and fellow athletes to join his cause. As a new organization, Athletes Against Bullying didn’t have a ton of time to organize events. Instead, it took a direct approach, going right to the sports teams and explaining the harmful effects of bullying.
“We started off by thinking if kids knew more about bullying and the harmful effects of it, they’d be less prone to bullying, intimidation and harassment,” Golkow said.
Athletes Against Bullying worked with anti-bullying specialists and a professional trainer in a half-day training session for each sports team prior to the start of the season. The training sessions include lessons in character education and how to prevent a culture of bullying.
With the organization including at least one representative from each Cherry Hill East sports teams, the program has been able to touch all sorts of athletes. Golkow said the club’s message had a positive effect on the school’s track team, in particular.
“Our track representatives did a good job,” he said. “They talked with their team about it. It went over well with them and there were no problems.”
Athletes Against Bullying caught the attention of the Phillies after Golkow applied for their “Extraordinary Scholar” contest. The contest was open to local students who positively affected their community and maintained a grade point average of at least 3.0.
Golkow wrote a 500-word essay about the club and sent it in. He was extremely excited when he found out he won.
“I knew this club had a lot of potential,” he said. “I was confident, but just hearing the news was surprising.”
Golkow believes Athletes Against Bullying can completely change the culture of Cherry Hill East in a positive way. Next year, the organization is planning a number of events. He has met with the Cherry Hill Alcohol and Drug Alliance to add another dimension to preseason training.
The organization is still going to promote its message throughout the school hallways as well.
“We had t-shirts for just the club members this year, but we want to sell them to the students to keep raising awareness,” Golkow said.
Residents can follow Athletes Against Bullying’s activities and news on Twitter @CHE_AAB.
