The 11th annual Bullying Awareness Week is taking place this week from November 18 to 24!
To promote and inspire change in today’s youth, the Toronto Coalition for the Awareness and Prevention of Bullying hosted a special event for students on Monday, November 18.
The event featured members of the Coalition, including representatives from the Canadian Red Cross, the Toronto Argonauts Football Club and Family Channel, as well as executive members of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. They spoke to students from grades 1-8 about how to address and prevent bullying should they find themselves in the situation. Students participated in workshops by iEngage Bullying Prevention and KidSafe Productions that provided them with tools to deal with the issue. They also learned about community groups that work to eliminate bullying. The event took place at St. Barnabas Catholic School in Scarborough, Ontario.
Family Channel will be celebrating the annual week all throughout November with their Stand UP! campaign. The three schools (Sherwood Park Elementary School in North Vancouver, BC, Knoxdale Public School in Nepean, Ont. and Rothesay Elementary School in Rothesay, NB) were chosen to host a Stand Up! rally by telling Family how they are standing up to bullying. The rallies were hosted by THE NEXT STEP’s Brittany Raymond and Trevor Tordjman (better known as Riley and James). They taught the students the dance to “Stand Up and Shout,” the campaign’s original anthem. A discussion was then led by a representative from PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network – a national network of researchers and community groups committed to ending bullying). A new version of the “Stand Up and Shout” music video featuring footage of the three rallies will be unveiled on Family Channel throughout the week.
On Friday, November 22, Family is dedicating the evening to bullying prevention with a special marathon beginning at 5 p.m. A new episode of JESSIE kicks off a marathon of bullying-themed episodes from the show. A new episode of THE NEXT STEP will air at 7 p.m., followed by the premiere of PENELOPE at 7:30 p.m. The movie (which stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon) is about a young heiress born under a curse that can only be broken when she learns to accept herself for who she is.
Family Channel, who co-founded Bullying Awareness Week in 2003 and developed the Stand UP! Campaign with PREVNet, is providing bilingual bullying prevention resources for students, parents and educators on http://www.family.ca/standup/.
As of today, the “Stand Up and Shout” song will be available for free download for a limited time.
What are you doing to help prevent bullying? Sound off in the comments below!
(Image courtesy of Family Channel)