WASHINGTON – With school bullying reaching epidemic proportions through social media, a new, 21-minute film and bullying prevention program is saving lives nationwide. Entitled Acception, which means to accept and appreciate differences, the storyline follows four students as they perform a class assignment on bullying and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. Using original animations and true stories on social networking websites, the film helps students discover that “hurting people, hurt people” and “healthy people, help people.”
The film and curriculum, released in March 2012, is being implemented in more than a dozen school districts in Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Washington, and is expected to reach at least 25,000 students in its first year of implementation.
“Our mission is to help educators provide solutions to the nation’s bullying epidemic while empowering students to become change agents so they can step up and ‘Be a Hero’ in their schools to prevent bullying,” said Acception productions’ director, Christopher Doyle. The solutions-based film is reinforced with a bullying prevention curriculum for educators – the first of its kind – that is compatible with the National Health Education Standards.
“This year’s theme during National Bullying Awareness Week is ‘Stand Up’ and we are encouraging schools across the country to be proactive and adopt Acception’s solutions-based approach to bullying prevention in their school district,” commented Doyle. “Instead of reacting to bullying after it happens, schools that incorporate Acception will be saving countless lives because it helps stop the bullying before it occurs.”
Principal Barbara Kirkweg of Bronx Aerospace High School in Bronx, New York is enthusiastic about her school’s implementation of Acception: “I don’t know of anything more useful than this film and curriculum to help kids navigate the pre-teen and teen years. I look forward to using it for both in-school and after-school discussions. Acception will make a positive difference in the lives of all viewers. I believe it will save lives.”
Bullying is difficult to define, because in today’s society it extends much further beyond someone taking your child’s lunch money or pushing him or her around on the playground, and the effects of this type of behavior go much deeper than a black eye. Teasing, taunting, ethnic slurs and sexual harassment are all forms of bullying. Bullying behavior is generally repetitive hostility and aggression directed toward a victim who is physically or mentally weaker than the bully. Thus, being a parent I’ve learned to be vigilant and more particular on the safety of my teens especially when it comes with bullying cases. Then I found this site that provides a protection for children from a safety mobile protection that can access family, friends and 911 in times of emergency. I just downloaded their application on their iPhone. Here’s where you can find it: http://safetrec.com/