October is National Bullying Prevention Month

Discouraging stories about bullying are becoming commonplace, but creating awareness about the issue and teaching our children how to combat bullying is the first step in reducing the problem. In order to combat bullying, the National Bullying Prevention Center was created in 2006 by the PACER center. The PACER center is an organization that was established by parents of children with disabilities to help other families dealing with similar challenges.

The National Bullying Prevention Center founded National Bullying Prevention Month in October 2006. Throughout this month, the center encourages schools and communities to unite and raise awareness of bullying prevention through events, activities and education. The National Bullying Prevent Center has a wealth of educational resources to use for combating bullying. They also have a kid-friendly site that parents can use when talking with their children about bullying and how they can work to prevent it, or what they can do if they are a victim of bullying.

CASP is honoring this month by asking each of our 17 programs to hold a special activity at their program during October. The special activity that we selected for the program begins with staff leading students in listening to a song that depicts one person’s struggle with bullying. The staff then lead the students in a discussion about the message of the song.

Here is an example of one the discussion questions:

“Everyone in this world has a purpose and worth. One of the best things in the world is discovering who you are, your talents and desires. What can happen to someone when he or she is ridiculed and made to feel that he or she does not have worth or purpose?”

Finally, staff members ask students to  “take a pledge against bullying” by signing a certificate. Some sites will be posting these certificates at their sites.

Below are some pictures from the event at Washington CASP.