Bully Boomerang?

Feb 222011
 
 


stop bullying Originally uploaded by misscupcake1

Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns.  ~Author Unknown

Last weekend I attended both the Writer’s Workshops and the “Readers’ Day” at the Amelia Island Book Festival, treating myself to two full classroom days with remarkable and generous authors willing to show up and teach. Always anxious to become more literate in social media, I attended David-Matthew Barnes’ class on that topic.  After falling just a little bit in love with DM’s teaching style I decided to pick up one of his books for young adults.  I chose Mesmerized, a story about a young woman named Serena after her gay brother was murdered.

Interesting how and when people and their ideas show up in our lives…. Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day — a growing anti-bullying awareness event that started with a single act of kindness.

As an advocate for kids and parents, I’m concerned about violence of any kind. Last year, as a result of contributing a few blog articles I connected with some wonderful family advocates, some of whom are becoming friends.

  • Annie Fox is an author and educator with a passionate yet common sense approach. One of the things I appreciate about her is a statement on her site that says “No one solution to bullying fits all; Anyone who says that is wrong.” I encourage you to take a look.
  • Marjie Knudsen is a Mom and the author of BRAVE: Be Ready and Victory’s Easy about Danny, who struggles with social anxiety. In addition, she’s wonderful connector. I’ve learned about a lot of great resources by following her on Twitter (@MarjieKnudsen).
  • Sam Horn, best known for her work helping others create the perfect pitch…. is also the author of Take the Bully by the Horns.

By its nature bullying isolates victims.  While it is an enormously complex social problem, it’s one that thrives in secrecy and feeds on silence.  I choose to believe that awareness is helps. Whether or not you know someone who is being bullied please reach out… share resources…. raise awareness. Feel free to add any resources you like in the comments.

Nobody can do everything…. but each of us can do something.

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Teens Take Bullying Into Their Own Hands

Apr 122010
 

Wednesday is Pink Shirt Day.

If you’re asking “what’s that?” you’re not alone. The grassroots anti-bullying event began when two high schoolers saw a fellow student being bullied and took matters into their own hands. Non-violently.

Their compassionate intervention worked… and caught the attention and imagination of lots of people, especially Canadian broadcaster Christy Clark, shown here in a short interview about last year’s event.

I posted about these students at the beginning of the school year….. and just found this great ‘re-enactment’ on YouTube.

I am, by no means, a bullying ‘specialist.’ But I am a Mom and I am concerned about all of the risks facing our kids.

Big changes begin with increasing awareness. And one of the things I like about the approaches that I’m finding is that they speak to the importance of increasing awareness and taking small steps.

I will be adding posts on this topic throughout the week. Please add your resources to the mix by including them in comments…. and I’ll update our resources page as well.

And, of course, please pass all of these along to parents and teachers you know and love. Thanks!