Blogs are a way in which people can stay informed on the issues that they care about. Grassroots organizations can also look to these forms of media in order to see what other people are trying to do on a more individual level. By clicking one link, I was able to see many blogs dedicated to anti-bullying and raising awareness. Although this was not apart of the project requirements, I wanted to make sure there were more resources that can be used as informational tools. Here are some of the ones that stood out and a brief description of their mission.
Bullying Stories is a blog that ran for eight years and contributed real stories from adults that were bullied when they were younger. This platform seeks to give the space where people that were bullied when they were young to speak out about their past experiences and to engage in a reflective process on how they were shaped and influenced by them. The blog was started by Alan Eisenberg and he now has a site called BullyingRecovery.com/blog that focuses on the rehabilitation process.
NoBullying.com is an online forum dedicated to educating people on the problems with bullying and ways in which you can detect it and combat it. According to the “About Me” page, “Nobullying.com is an online forum aimed at educating, advising, counselling and all importantly, helping to stop bullying, in particular, cyber bullying” (NoBullying.com). They state their values as fairness, integrity, and truth and believe that the mission should be to help as many people deal with bullying, cyber bullying, and online safety from every country in the world” (Ibid). The website is based in Northern Ireland and has 50,000 people visiting the site per month. Over 60% of its viewers come from the U.S. or Canada. It is now one of the biggest resources for bullying and cyber bullying in the world (Ibid).
Brainstorm Productions is an innovative company that serves students by using theatre performances to raise awareness of bullying. It has an impressive resume of awards and achievements. The production company is seen by over 350,000 students yearly and has been performing for over 30 years (BrainstormProductions.edu). The mission statement of BSP is as follows, “We are committed to reducing bullying in schools and encouraging positive student behaviors by incorporating sound educational principles with a creative, entertaining, engaging and action packed theatrical experience! Our live in school performances have been created to leave a lasting impression and challenge even the most cynical students to examine their patterns of behavior” (Ibid).
Stomp Out Bullying was born in October, 2007 as a campaign under the Love Our Children USA organization. Its mission is to prevent bullying, cyberbullying, sexting and other digital abuse, decrease school absenteeism and truancy, educate against homophobia, racism and hatred and deter violence in schools, playgrounds, online and in communities across the country (StompOutBullying.com). It has created the Annual Blue Shirt Day, where people wear a blue tee to show support for the cause. This year it will be held on October 2, 2017 and every school in the world can join the cause.
Janine’s Party is a blog that looks to raise awareness for students with disability and to promote equal rights in the classroom and overall inclusion into society. Its mission is to change the public perception and knock down stereotypes that are fixed on disabled students. The character Janine is a cartoon character of the real Janine Leffler, a woman from NH that is disabled. Her mother, an illustrator, created the character so the story of her daughter could be told to students around the NH area and to teach the lesson that it is more about one’s abilities than one’s disabilities.