Treasure Mountain Junior High student Ben Sherer-Lykes was among 11 other Utah finalists in the “Do the Write Thing” Youth Anti-Violence Awards. According to Juvenile Justice Specialist Reg Garff, this is a writing initiative to end youth violence. More than 3,000 students participated in anti-violence exercises in the classroom and talked about bullying, which Garff said is a root cause of violence.

“This year, we had 1,414 entries, which is almost double what we had two years ago. Ben’s essay made it through a series of judges and made it up to the top 12 in the state,” Garff said, adding that students from Weaver State University, The University of Utah and Utah State University judged the submissions.

“If we listen to what the kids have to say we can learn a lot. They have a lot of the answers,” Garff said. Students were honored at a luncheon at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City earlier this month.

According to Lykes, he had trouble starting the project, assigned by his English teacher Julie Hooker. Ben said he was inspired by a rap song and started drafting a poem the night before the assignment was due called “I’m different and I know it.”

An excerpt from Ben’s poem describes how he felt when he was bullied by some of his peers:

I’ve been called stupid, fag, and retard,

The words cut so deep.

I can’t show how much it hurts at school,

Cause everyone will think I’m a freak.

I’m different and I know it.

I try not to show it.

I don’t need you to make fun of me.

“I was happy that I did it in the last second and I could bring it from the heart,” he said.

According to Ben’s mom, Dondea Sherer-Lykes, the poem is about Ben’s own experiences and everything written is true, including the bullying.

“He really put himself out there and that’s why it took him so long to write it,” She said. “He’s very athletic and gets awards for that, but this has probably been the proudest moment. When it’s something academic it’s really special.”

To read Ben’s poem and to learn more about the anti violence writing initiative visit www.tmms.pcschools.us.