School bullying has become an even more timely topic in recent years and many students, parents and school officials are eager to see successful strategies to help address this powerful negative societal phenomenon. The movie Bully has been making waves the past few months for its graphic depiction of real-life bullying (though the way the movie was presented may even encourage suicide). A few weeks ago we celebrated the #stand4change event, which asked students, staff and other stakeholders across America to take a stand against bullying by speaking up against it. There are many other programs like this one across the country that are creating change at a grassroots level by asking people to recognize the problem of bullying. I have been sharing my personal message with schools, students and community partners for over a decade and I find it to be one of the most rewarding parts of my work.
Fortunately, the federal government launched an excellent bullying prevention campaign a few years ago and many schools now utilize it. However, I still interact with many school officials who have never heard of the campaign, so we felt it would be a good idea to post a blog with a link to help make readers aware of this quality free resource to help address bullying in schools.