Noble County Bully Project

Stand4Hope Online Training

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:21:29 +0000

We’re always looking for more information about how to educate people about bullying. Recently we can across a great online training course that costs just $5. If you are a parent, teen, or educator who is interested in helping to stop bullying check out www.Stand4Hope.com and their online training program!

What bravery REALLY looks like

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:40:30 +0000

Last Friday I talked to a few hundred kids about how to deal with bullies. We talked about two different “word blocks” from Verbal Judo for kids. All around the kids learned some cool new ways to deal with people who are making fun of them but the really interesting thing came a day or two later at the Apple Festival.

Three of the girls who heard my talk saw me making fritters (yummy) and said, “That stuff doesn’t work!” I ended up finding out that the girls never tried what I suggested and they wouldn’t because in essence it wasn’t the brave thing to do. One of the girls had been to the principals office recently for making fun of another girl after the other girl called her a name (a word I didn’t know until after high school). The girl couldn’t stand the idea of not standing up for herself by fighting back with more harassment.

We’ve totally warped the true meaning of bravery in today’s society. True bravery is doing the RIGHT thing when it’s hard. True bravery is thinking before acting. Bravery is “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” The important word in there is MORAL. We have to be BETTER then those around us if we’re going to be truly BRAVE.

Online Bullying Prevention Course for Professionals

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:24:28 +0000

Hazelden has an online 2 hour course for professionals about bullying. They also have other online courses that are worth looking into. If your a teacher or youth worker you might look into taking this online course.

FAST Defense Comes to Noble County

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:37:29 +0000

Zach Hayden, a local self-defense expert and martial artist joined other experts that traveled worldwide to attend the recent Instructor Certification for the FAST Defense program.

FAST Defense is the result of an evolution in a self-defense system that started thirty five years ago and was voted Black Belt Magazine’s Best Self-Defense in the Industry.

FAST is an acronym for Fear Adrenal Stress Training that teaches a simply step-by-step process which allows students to recondition their normal negative fear/freeze responses into those of amazing strength and power. To ensure that it works under stress, FAST Defense puts students through a wide variety of increasingly stressful real-life scenarios and drills in a fun and entirely safe manner. Designed to work alongside any style of martial art or as a standalone training system, it gets students to experience their bodies going into an adrenal gland fuelled “flight or fight” situation and come out on the winning end.

“This training doesn’t just deal with self-defense it deals with bullies also.” Says Hayden. “I’m excited to bring this system to Noble County. It’s training that every person needs to have.”

The FAST Defense skills will be immediately implemented into the curriculum taught at Hayden’s ATA in Kendallville. The team at Hayden’s ATA will also be working to bring this to the community through special seminars and guest instruction. If you’re interested in having your group or organization learn how to use verbal and physical skills to defend themselves under stress feel free to contact them.

FAST Defense requires no special equipment other than standard MA kick and focus pads, and works for children, teens, and adults. You can find out more information at www.fastdefense.com or contact Hayden’s ATA today!

Olweus and the ATA

admin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:12:06 +0000

Olweus is one of the world leaders in Bully research and prevention. Recently the ATA (American Taekwondo Association) has partnered with Olweus to offer bully prevention education to students and parents across the country. Check out the resent post on the Olweus website! You can also see more at www.ATALeadershipNOW.com.

Words are Worse then Sticks and Stones – Video

admin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:29:11 +0000

Have you seen this video?

Read the whole story here!

A 14-Year-Old Girl’s Nightmare…From One Text!

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:19:38 +0000

From The Blaze:

Sexting, or sending sexual text messages to friends, is a surprisingly common phenomenon among the youth. As of 2009, about 20% of teens admitted to “sexting,” according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

In the New York Times, there‘s a sad and shocking story of how sexting altered one young girl’s life. She was only in eighth grade when it happened:

One day last winter Margarite posed naked before her bathroom mirror, held up her cellphone and took a picture. Then she sent the full-length frontal photo to Isaiah, her new boyfriend.

The couple broke up not too long after that. Then, Margarite’s ex-boyfriend forwarded her naked picture on to another girl. That girl forwarded the picture on to everyone in her cellphone contact list. Those people forwarded the picture on to more phones so that in less than 24 hours, hundreds–maybe even thousands–of people had seen a naked picture of Margarite:

They broke up soon after. A few weeks later, Isaiah forwarded the photo to another eighth-grade girl, once a friend of Margarite’s. Around 11 o’clock at night, that girl slapped a text message on it.

“Ho Alert!” she typed. “If you think this girl is a whore, then text this to all your friends.” Then she clicked open the long list of contacts on her phone and pressed “send.”

In less than 24 hours, the effect was as if Margarite, 14, had sauntered naked down the hallways of the four middle schools in this racially and economically diverse suburb of the state capital, Olympia. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of students had received her photo and forwarded it.

In short order, students would be handcuffed and humiliated, parents mortified and lessons learned at a harsh cost. Only then would the community try to turn the fiasco into an opportunity to educate.

Though sexting is not illegal, if the senders and/or receivers of the text involve minors, child pornography laws could kick in. So in this case, the police eventually did end up getting involved. On the drive to school–where the police were waiting to question Margarite–she “sobbed uncontrollably, feeling betrayed and degraded.”

“When I opened my phone I was scared,” one of Margarite’s peers at school said. “I knew who the girl in the picture was. It’s hard to unsee something.”

Read the whole story here.

Check out this Bullying Parent Book

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Hayden’s ATA in Kendallville has been going around Noble County talking about Verbal Self-Defense. Your child may have been exposed to this great program through a local school or library. Check out the link above for a parent course from the creators of Verbal Judo for Children and this link for an online booklet about verbal self-defense.

Cyberbullying Infographic

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:56:11 +0000

Justin Bieber, MTV & Facebook take on Cyberbullying!

admin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:31:23 +0000

From Mashable.com:

Justin Bieber has teamed up with MTV and Facebook to take a stand against cyberbullying.

The teen star called for young people to post an action to MTV’s Draw Your Line, a virtual map and support forum that tracks efforts to stop digital abuse. To spur participation, Bieber is offering a chance to win one of 14 prizes just by posting an action. The contest lasts until March 31.

Read the whole story here.