16 October 2012

A Call to Speak Out Against Bullying - for Vloggers

October is anti-bullying month! Sadly, bullying affects many children and teenagers around the world.

Image courtesy of Ambro/www.freedigitalphotos.net

The following facts were given on the website of DoSomething.org:
  •  Bullying is the most common form of violence in schools(verbally and physically)/ 
  • One incident of bullying [happens] every seven minutes. 
  • It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school everyday due to the fear of attack or intimidation by other students. 
  • 2 out of 3 teens are verbally or physically harassed every year. 
  • 58% of teens have had hurtful things said to them online and over 40% say it’s happened more than once.
The page goes on to give a plan of action and also has a video made by young people. You can see it here.

I am a member of the 20sb network, for bloggers in their twenties. If you are also in your twenties and like to blog or vlog, you may be interested in what they have planned to mark anti-bullying month. They are asking people to:

 "post a vlog (or blog post if you’re not up for the face time) about a time you were bullied, tips for dealing with a bully, or maybe lessons you’ve learned from being a bully

The deadline is 24 October and entries can be left in the comments section of their blog post on anti-bullying month. They will compile highlights from the videos, to be shared at the end of October. All the details are here.

Even if you are not in your twenties (and so can't enter your vlog for the 20sb call to action), you may want to think about this theme for this month. How can bullying be prevented? How can we help young people who are being bullied? Let's hope that our actions this month can go towards answering these questions and stamping out bullying!

2 comments:

  1. Please sign my petition to make VH1 withdraw their Bully-Promoting Anti-Bullying Ad http://www.thepetitionsite.com/788/098/704/make-vh1-withdraw-their-bully-promoting-anti-bullying-ad/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Moitle, sorry for my delayed response. I have been away.

      I have looked up the Ad and read about it (here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-temkin/why-the-new-vh1-antibully_b_5215210.html) and watched it on a link given in another article (http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/vh1s-i-will-survive-anti-bullying-ad-great-fun-does-it-send-good-message-157219) I don't think it sends out the right message at all to those who are being bullied, or who have experience bullying in the past. I will sign your petition.

      Just by chance, someone sent me a video this morning, of two boys one of whom had experienced bullying, and who wrote an anti-bullying song. The audience found them inspirational, and I thought I would pass it on to you too:
      http://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-videos/524/Young-Duo-s-Powerful-Original-Song-Shocks-Everyone-Including-Every-Judge-Simply-Amazing-

      Thanks for commenting and letting me know about your petition.

      Delete