Stop Bullying Now. Take A Stand. Lend A Hand.

What Communities Are Doing

After two years of a successful national effort to communicate the mission of the Stop Bullying Now! Campaign (SBN!), participation of local communities has been overwhelming! By using Campaign materials, these community-based initiatives are helping the Stop Bullying Now! Campaign realize its ultimate goal – to raise awareness about the issue of bullying and reduce bullying among “tweens.”

What are the elements of successful community-based campaigns?

• Cohesive, consistent, coordinated efforts that include a long-term strategy to prevent bullying
• Consensus on goals, messages, prevention tactics, follow-up, enforcement and evaluation factors
• Engagement by relevant, diverse audiences
• Family, school-community, law enforcement, policymakers, and youth working together to get the message out
• Local media involvement

Are you looking for ideas on how to use the SBN! Campaign locally? Check out some of these successful projects around the country that are educating and engaging students, parents, and local communities in bullying prevention.

Rosa Parks Middle School

Olney, Maryland Sherwood High School students from PROJECT CHANGE, SADD and NOYS developed the “You Have the Power!” Project (YHTP!) where teens mentored “tweens” to bring the Stop Bullying Now! message to schools and the community. On National Youth Service Day (April 15, 2005) the students aired SBN! Campaign Public Service Announcements (http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/indexAdult.asp?Area=psas) and Webisodes (http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp?Area=webisodes), displayed posters, and aired a student-developed PSA featuring the “right” and “wrong”way to handle bullying. YHTP! received national and local media attention and was featured in a segment of the national PBS broadcast of “In the Mix” (http://www.pbs.org/inthemix/ Show 801). The YHTP! teens and middle school students have continued the mentoring relationship and are currently developing a bullying prevention PSA working with elementary school students.

Bullying Prevention Task Force

Monroe County, New York A Bullying Prevention Task Force created a coalition to share and expand the reach of ideas and resources. Parents, community agencies, after-school programs, educators, law enforcement, and mental health professionals banded together to help spread the word about bullying. SBN! Resource Kits were distributed at conferences to more than 300 attendees and SBN! Campaign materials were used in “how-to”workshops by the Task Force. Additionally, the coalition created a community web-based tool kit, a 10- minute video with facts and prevention tips about bullying, and sponsored a student poster contest that involved all 20 school districts. The winning posters from four different age-groups were displayed on six billboards around Monroe County.

Kenosha Unified School District

Kenosha, Wisconsin As part of a larger bullying prevention effort, students in grades six to eight in the Kenosha Unified School District have participated in a student poster contest utilizing the SBN! theme, “Take A Stand. Lend A Hand. Stop Bullying Now!” The program is in its third year at the school. The winning posters were featured on billboards around town. In September 2005, the District premiered a video produced by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (“A Visit to One School's Bullying Prevention Program”) that featured Kenosha's own John Bullen Middle School's comprehensive bullying prevention program and that highlighted SBN's Campaign resources.

Meadow Woods Middle School

Orange County, Orlando, Florida Meadow Woods Middle School launched a PTA-sponsored campaign with the slogan, “Got Empathy?” In addition to conducting workshops with various faith and civic groups in the community, the middle school printed student artwork and poetry related to the SBN! theme in their 2004-05 Academic Calendar. The calendars were distributed to 2,000 middle school households with SBN! tips for parents. As a part of the “Got Empathy?” campaign, the school gave away “Got Empathy?” t-shirts to students, displayed SBN! posters in school hallways, and posted a permanent sign at the school's entrance that reads – BULLY FREE ZONE.