P.I.E

Uniting people, schools, and communities nationwide to prevent bullying National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week

Teens Against Bullying Web Site

Kids Against Bullying Web Site

As part of PACER Center’s fourth annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, Oct. 4 – 10, 2009, children,teens, adults, schools, and communities across the country areencouraged to partner with PACER to prevent bullying.

The movement is being given a boost with the launch of PACER TeensAgainstBullying.org a relevant, edgy Web site created by and for teens. In addition to videos, stories, blogs, and social networking, the site features a tool box of things teens and schools can do to address bullying—from creating their own videos to performing role plays for younger students.

Every day, more than160,000 children nationwide stay home from school to avoid bullying. Up to one-third of the nation’s students are bullied during the academic year, and more than 60 percent witness bullying daily. The results of bullying can be devastating—or even tragic.

“Our mission is to engage, educate, and empower teens to care about bullying,” said Paula Goldberg, PACER’s executive director. “We encourage people nationwide to work together during National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children.”

In addition to visiting PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org for teens and PACERKidsAgainstBullying.org for elementary school children, people can help prevent bullying in several ways. Free activities to help reduce bullying in schools, recreational programs, and community groups, and materials such as contests, classroom tool kits,and more are available at PACER.org. Organizations and schools can partner with PACER by sending an e-mail to bullying411@PACER.org with the name of their school or organization, their Web site URL, and a note about what their school is doing to support bullying prevention. Partners are listed on PACER’s bullying prevention Web sites.

“It’s time to take action,” Goldberg said. “Teachers, parents,students, and adults throughout each community must work together tocreate a climate that doesn’t accept bullying. When bullying isaddressed, communities will see more students with higher self-esteem,better school attendance, less physical and mental stress, and betterschool performance.”

The week is sponsored by PACER’s National Center for Bullying Prevention, which is for all children, including those with disabilities. It promotes national bullying awareness and teaches effective ways to respond to bullying. National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week is cosponsored by the American Federation for Teachers, National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, National Education Association,and School Social Work Association of America.

PACER Center is a national parent center located in Minneapolis, Minn. Serving all youth, with a special emphasis on children with disabilities, it provides publications, workshops, individualized assistance, and other resources to help families make decisions about education, vocational training, employment, and other services for their children. To learn more, visit PACER.org or call 952-838-9000; 800-53-PACER (Minnesota toll free); and 888-248-0822 (national toll free).

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Editor: This news release can be downloaded at PACER.org/bullying/bpaw/media/index.asp. Experts are available through PACER for media interviews on bullying prevention topics, such as:

How can teens recognize and help prevent bullying? How can parents help their child who is being bullied? What can schools and organizations do to prevent bullying and increase awareness of the issue? How does bullying affect students and school culture? What role do bystanders play in preventing bullying and what are some methods to engage them?