News and Knowledge

Traditionally, alchemy was the process of trying to turn base metals, like copper, for example, into a precious metal like gold. PACER Center’s National Bullying Prevention Center is aiming for a different kind of alchemical process: transforming bullying into kindness and inclusion. Through a number of resources and initiatives offered via the National Bullying Prevention Center Web site, PACER staff is trying to change society’s view of bullying from something that is tolerated as part of “growing up” to an unacceptable activity no matter where or to whom it occurs, whether the target is a child with disabilities, a shy teenager, or an adult in the workplace.

PACER Center was started by a group of parents of children with disabilities in the late 70s as an advocacy organization, explains Julie Hertzog Director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. “The group sought to help parents understand their rights when it came to special education, and PACER continues that work today, though it has grown substantially since then.”

When the Center decided to take on bullying in 2000, staff decided that it needed to aim its efforts at society as a whole, rather than the targets and their parents. “It’s a community issue that should be addressed by the community. We want to change the social paradigm around bullying and that takes everyone,” notes Hertzog.

The National Bullying Prevention Center grew out of those efforts, established in 2006 to help people understand the harm that bullying does and to provide resources to help them bring awareness to the issue in their neighborhoods and communities. “Individuals within communities know the best ways to help the students and families who are their friends and neighbors,” Hertzog says. “We offer them free resources, many available digitally from the Center’s Web site, and concrete ways to get involved at the community, school, or individual level.”

These are some of the tools and resources that you will find on the Web site:

• A specific page for parents of children with disabilities includes links to all kinds of resources, from materials about the laws related to bullying to information on how to talk to your child about bullying and how to use the IEP as a bullying prevention tool and letter templates. A Helpful Resources page recommends some motivational tools that families and educators will find useful as well as reassuring.

• Two Web sites created by PACER staff, KidsAgainstBullying.org and TeensAgainstBullying.org, speak directly to children and teens, offering them ways to learn about bullying and tools to address it. Both sites also offer help and assistance for those who are being bullied.

• The We Will Generation Web site asks young people to get involved because they are the best way to stop bullying among their peers, noting a statistic that says that nearly 60 percent of bullying situations end when a peer intervenes. The site provides concrete actions for young people to take, inspiring stories, videos, a book list, and a classroom curriculum for teachers.

• Another Center initiative, National Bullying Prevention Month, began as a week in 2006 and expanded out of a need for awareness around the issue. It creates another opportunity for people to talk about bullying, notes Hertzog, and offers a space in which new thinking can take root. The Center recently added a Unity Day to the month, in which participants wear the color orange to call awareness to the need to stop bullying. Communities, businesses, and individuals have taken that to all kinds of creative levels, from bakeries offering orange cupcakes to their customers to a pizza restaurant that gave away free slices to any customer wearing an orange t-shirt. “It was gratifying,” says Hertzog, “to see communities becoming visible and saying that they want everyone in their community to be safe.”

• Run, Walk, Roll Against Bullying also takes place in October as communities across the country sponsor walks and runs so that families and individuals can actively participate to increase awareness and raise funds.

• The Unity Awards honor and celebrate students and community members who have gone above and beyond to help address bullying.

Copper is not likely to be turned into gold any time soon, but through the efforts of organizations like the PACER Center, there is good reason to hope that bullying will one day be replaced by kindness and inclusion.