“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


 

The above are just words of encouragement; but if you can muster their intended message, they definitely help you evolve into someone you want to be. We were recently invited to Mills Peninsula Health Center in San Mateo California for the Men’s Health Symposium 2014.  Organized by the African- American Health Advisory Committee, the main objective of this event was providing information about the prevailing health concerns among men, and cultivating ideas about activities/resources that motivate and encourage healthy living.  It is a great and eye opening experience learning about what you can achieve if you are willing to step outside your comfort zone.

What does it mean to be healthy? You cannot call yourself healthy just because you are physically fit and carry six pack abs. The Men’s Health Symposium, invited various experts and keynote speakers to share their view on topics such as financial health, nutrition, and mental health.  Financial health is directly related to your mental health. Low paying jobs, family responsibilities, power and status in the society, loans and debts and many more issues affect your financial health and in turn your mental health.

Mental, physiological and financial are components of your "health triangle". All of these components are interdependent. For example, if your mental health is poor, it might lead to bad eating habits as you try to cope with sadness, or depression and will de-motivate you to live healthy. Thus, poor mental and emotional health has a negative effect on your physical health. If you analyze your day-to-day life there are 3 main factors that affect your mental health:

·   Hereditary Factor

Passing of traits from parents to offspring.

·   Physical Factor

Physical state of the individual has a direct effect on mental health.

·   Socio-cultural Factor

Individuals develop attitudes and beliefs from past experiences.



Moving the discussion to nutrition and fitness, Personal Trainers discussed the rudimentary nature of cardio exercises and following diets from magazines and online blogs as an “ordinary” approach to fitness. The diet that you eat should be tailored to your body, weight, height, routine, metabolism and body mass-index (BMI).  Eating right and living right is the key to fitness.   Also, maintaining a healthy environment around you, and making good decisions,  keeps away the viral and bacterial infections including STD's or STI's (sexually transmitted infections)

The  AACHAC and ASK Academy are soon organizing follow-up focus groups to determine the needs of young men (age 35 and younger) and means to address their health concerns. We will soon be out with the details in our next post. Till then remember, “You deserve better, and yes, even if that means going out of your comfort zone.”


For more information on mental and physical health services, events and activities go to http://www.aachac.org

1. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2
   
   
2. Photo gallery http://www.aachac.org/index.php/event/2013-mens-health-symposium/?gpage=2
   
   

“"What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support, and friendship."

- Terry Tempest Williams”

The month of August is always a fresh start to the new year at school when students, teachers, parents and school authorities work towards one ultimate goal- Free flow of the academic course. While students get busy with their orientation and registration, the school authorities move on to defining the academic calendar and planning the activities that will take place during the year.

Our focus area this year has moved on to creating a Bully-free environment in all the schools in California, achieved by informing parents, teachers and students and providing ideas to sidestep this ideological landmine. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. It can happen in the classroom, on the playground, on the school bus, in the neighborhood, over the Internet, or through mobile devices. Following are some steps to stop bullying:

• Students should be taught various behavioral measures to face and respond to bullying such as making a strong eye contact with the bully, standing tall and staying calm in a difficult situation or completely ignoring the bully by walking away.
  
  
• Making students aware of the right person to ask for help.
  
  
• Students should alert school officials about instances of bullying and work with the authorities towards a solution.
  
  
• Appointing a student representative who will monitor social media interactions publicly.
  
  
• Organizing Anti-Bully workshops and thus providing stop bullying information to students, teachers, and school authorities.
  
  
• Developing practical solutions with the school authorities, teachers, and students to discourage Bullying.1
  
  

Ensuring that every school has a School Climate Committee will help in maintaining a peaceful environment in the school and surroundings. This committee will provide a path to promote peace and peer education at the school and answer critical questions such as - How to maintain a culture of peace outside the events and seminars? How to help the students respond effectively when someone is inappropriate or disrespectful toward them? Ultimately the question arises - What to do to stop bullying? Leadership workshops can be conducted to work on measures to promote peace and peer mentoring at the school.

To face such issues related to Bullying, it is important that the students gain control of the situation and finally 
stop the bully. We researched on various public schools across California and observed that most of the schools encouraged their students to participate in sports, drama and dance, and subject matter interschool competitions. However, most of the schools lagged in providing support on crucial factors for individual development such as Leadership, Public Speaking, Organizing Agendas, Conflict management and many more. In the ever-evolving socio-economic environment, it is really necessary that students be well exposed to the challenges and hardships one can face in the forthcoming future.

Check out this video for more tips on bullying: “Ways to Stop Bullying” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTuA_tlZDE


ASK Academy helps in organizing workshops on various topics such as  “The Art of Public Speaking”, “How to be a Leader” and many more. These workshops help High school and University students eradicate bullying activities.



Source:

1. Back to School tips, 8/1/2014

http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Back-to-School-Tips.aspx

2.  Back To School Quotes To Start The Year Off Right
8/28/2013http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/backtoschool-quotes_n_3831072.html

How to Build Peace at your School is a "Bully Free Radio" segment; highlighting  current peer support services addressing and creating a culture of Peace and Non-Violence.  Student Leaders in the Jefferson Union High School District are targeting “CyberBullying” via social media, and Bullying related to Racial and Ethnic Discrimination. 

The “In our own words” project intent is preventing bullying in each school, however the students are expressing that by working on this project, they benefit personally as well.

Click Here to Listen to the Entire Radio Broadcast:  goo.gl/dQn9JP

In general people have some very universal, shared and abstract ideas about 
Peace, that do not always have any real meaning in people's immediate lives.  In 
this Bully Free Radio special segment, we honor Women's History Month with a Mindful Dialogue about What Peace is; and the struggles of Women Worldwide developing Peace Education Curriculum.   










Click on the following link to hear the Bully Free Radio broadcast on Blog Talk Radio:  goo.gl/ws1u4l

How To Survive And Thrive Bully Free





Learn How to Survive and Thrive in a violent world.  Listen to Danielle Davis talk about her personal experiences and her work with the most "High Risk" Youth in San Francisco. 

Click Here to hear her interview on
 Bully Free Radio:
bit.ly/1gCH4BQ

More Youth Leaders:
Meet the students from Jefferson High School



All of the nine Jefferson High School students participating in the “In Their Own Words” anti-bullying campaign have witnessed different types of bullying on their campus. They have experienced being bullied or being the bully themselves. For many of the students,  this is the main reason why they are Peer Educators; they want to create unity and peace among their schoolmates.




Read Entire Article.  Click Here:  goo.gl/iJijRA

Every Tuesday, eight students from Westmoor High School are voluntarily meeting after school working on their anti-bullying campaign.  From their perspective and "In Their Own Words," they are addressing cyber bullying and other forms of bullying.  These Peer Educators, ranging from the ages of seventeen to eighteen, hope that the campaign will initiate an open dialogue among their peers and decrease all forms of bullying.

Read Entire Article.  Click Here:  goo.gl/iJijRA

                                   Youth Leaders learning video editing techniques on Final Cut Pro.

We’re starting 2014 on a high note.  On Tuesday, Jan 7th we're happily kick starting our programs and Orientation at Jefferson High School in the morning and Westmoor High School in the afternoon.  During that time, we’re having an Orientation which includes a pre-test survey in order to evaluate the program at the start and then again at the end.  The students will also develop and choose the various roles they’ll be playing for the rest of the School year.   

Read Entire Article Here:  goo.gl/iJijRA