“A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That’s where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It’s having backbone.”
-Robert Kiyosaki
National Bullying Prevention Month is a campaign initiated in 2006 by PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center and kicks off in the month of October. The purpose of this campaign is welcoming and uniting communities from around the United States; also educating and raising awareness about bullying. The event started off as a weeklong event and it has now grown into a month-long event. The event was expanded in 2010 to include activities, education, and awareness building for the entire month. Schools and various organizations across the country have signed up as partner for this event. This includes multinationals and media giants like Facebook, CNN and Yahoo! 1
Ask Academy and the Stop Bullying System are a big part of National Anti-Bullying Month through our
Respect For All Campaigns in The San Francisco Bay Area. For instance, we support the Respect 24/7 Campaign in San Mateo County. Some of the Pacifica schools involved are:
*Oceana High School.
* Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School.
*Vallemar School.
At these schools’ students help create Respect For All Campaigns which begin with a Respect For All Assembly and then follow up classroom seminars and other school-wide activities throughout the year.
Focusing on Bullying Prevention during the month of October was conceived in response to the need to raise awareness of bullying. Historically perceived as a stepping stone to adulthood or creativity of adolescence, bullying in school among kids as we know it has devastating effects on these youngsters and has a long lasting effect on their personalities. The need to counter this brought PACER in tune with communities through partnerships with education based organizations such as National PTA, American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association to engage schools, parents and students with platform and resources to respond and counter to bullying behavior and to kick-start the societal acceptance of bullying to social change of addressing the issue through education and support.1
The sole motive of this event is to engage people and to spread awareness about the menace that we have come to know as BULLYING. Bullying is nothing but the use of force, threat, or intimidation to achieve domination over others. Such behavior is often asserted on others by the means of verbal abuse, physical assault or coercion. This pattern of behavior often turns habitual and repetitive. To make matters worse, such behavior in most of the situation gets socially accepted and treated as a sign of aggression and leadership, making it even more difficult for the abused to counter it or stand their ground. Some of the serious results of bullying can be depression, lack of school attendance and even death.
With intentions in mind to spread awareness, National Bullying Prevention Month tries to achieve this through events, engagements and activities. They create initiatives with their affiliated partners to address this. This year, PACER’s UNITY DAY will take place on Wednesday, October 22, the day when everyone is encouraged to come together and wear orange to send a message of support, hope and unity against Bullying. 2 The notion of being actively engaged and participation will help create an environment of non-acceptability of Bullying and support for those who are affected by this. At the end of the day, there is no better means of spreading awareness than engaging people and educating them practically.
Another talking point of the initiative is the partner events. Partners like Facebook, Disney and CNN have outreach to the people that far out-numbers PACER or any social cause for that matter. Utilizing these partner channels is a major break-through for such event given the potential size of the target audience.
“Choose Kindness” is part of Disney ABC Television Group’s effort in creating a bullying prevention campaign, a great channel to target young kids and parents in educating them about Bullying before they even encounter it. 3
Different partner agencies are conducting and holding events like “run, walk and roll against Bullying” to gain the attention of the adults towards bullying. Support and nurture from adults is something that younger generations seek to overcome Bullying.
The Stop Bullying System is continuing Respect For All Campaigns and the “In Our Own Words” Project this October in Pacifica and Daly City Schools.
In essence, PACER with National Bullying Prevention Month jumps in to create a platform where people can unite, combine and focus their efforts in normalizing the menace of Bullying. It is a program that is meant to anti-socialize the acceptance of Bullying. Likewise, with the Respect For All Campaign, youth and adults work together to make sure everyone feels safe and welcome. At the end of the day, like any other relief effort, ends can only meet when the knots are tied at the right places.
References:
1. History
http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/history.asp
2. Unity Day
http://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/unity-day.asp
3. Choose Kindness
http://citizenship.disney.com/be-inspired?cds
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