It's about 1 am and I am gathering my thoughts on what I experience last night. I had a wonderful night at Jirani Coffee House in Manassas, VA and learned some great information and heard some great stories about Bullying and Anti-Bullying prevention from some great organizations, amazing parents, and educators. It was truly a wealth of knowledge to hear their amazing stories and get their input! I am getting excited to know that we are at the forefront of some great ideas to tackle the epidemic that has been hurting our children, not only the victim but the bully as well. They are coming up with some innovated ideas to help heal and learn what we can do to teach our children, parents, and educators to succeed and learn to heal in some psychologically healthy ways, which has truly blown me away!
One organization that is looking to stop bullying in its tracks here in Prince William County is the Prince William County Student Assistance & Prevention Program with the new - NO PLACE FOR HATE, which was established in our Prince William County Schools. This program was started in the Regional offices of Washington D.C for assistance to help Prince William County Schools and was formed as the bases of the Student Assistance & Prevention Programs. It is being included slowly to see how it will handle in certain county schools. The Prince William County Supervisor of Suicide and Student Prevention Alliance, Richmond Hill was fervid and having faced bullying in the past as a child, he understood many of the same hurdles and knew many of the heartfelt needs of those in the room. Richmond says, "although many of these programs are there and available many parents are not aware, we want to ensure we get the help of those who can promote like community programs, organizations, and young people." For more information on these and other school programs please contact the division of Student Assitance & Prevention Programs at 703-791-7436.
Another great organization that was there was PAYTON'S PROJECT. Payton Rose Freeze was 17 years of age and due to the pressures of bullying and cyber-bullying, took her own life on February 10, 2016. Her father Mr.Freeze was there commemorating her life by sharing her experiences, his love for his daughter and the families experiences. His love is helping ignite a spark for Payton's Project to help many other families and kids facing cyberbullying, bullying and issues of depression. As quoted on Payton's Projects website, " Payton had just told her father the day before she took her own life that she was being bullied at school. The Freeze family believes that this, combined with the fact that Payton was found to have been suffering from CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, contributed to her death.
According to the Brain Injury Research Institute, the symptoms of CTE can be debilitating and cause “loss of memory, difficulty controlling impulsive or erratic behavior, impaired judgment, behavioral disturbances including aggression and depression, difficulty with balance, and a gradual onset of dementia.” CTE is typically caused by multiple concussions, but Payton only suffered from one, in 2014. Payton’s Project aims to bring awareness to both bullying and concussion prevention."
It was a touching love story of a father that had the whole coffee house moved and crying. This movement in their website as I investigated, has gone to spark a legislative law and petition urging Bullying Law Additions to add a House Bill called 1624 plus to House Bill 744. They have asked many parents, organization, and groups to sign their petition on their site to help as they say "strengthen current anti-bullying law to offer better protections and improved resources". To sign this petition please go to SIGN PAYTON'S PETITION HERE. Please help their movement, learn about Payton, about their scholarship and their programs.
It was also great to be able to hear from some great youth in our audience. YOUTHCENTERSTAGE.COM. It is a veteran-owned theater company tailored to ages 5 and up. They have summer theater camp, art classes, online class and much more. They find fun ways to connect with their peers in a fun and healthy way.
I definitely do not want to end this without thanking our host Why, Incorporated. Who open the floor for many of us to gather together and open the floor for many of us to talk about this unanswered, hurtful and still pending issue in our children's lives. Why, Incorporated started this movement in 2016 and pondered the same mission as many other families just as it says on their facebook page, "Why is something we ask after something happens....Why do we wait until then? Let's get the education now so that we can be prepared. "
What a powerful and profound statement..we always wait till the last minute don't we folks, let's do something NOW! This is an amazing 501c3 dedicated to nurturing healthy, safe programs for parents and children. Please visit them at https://whyinc.org for more information and to become involved in their programs. Don't wait to get involved with your local groups, churches, counties, police station, schools, government offices, social media avenues, and in your CHILDREN LIVES. Let's not stop until bullying ends and we all can get a better system in place.
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