October has arrived, which means National Bullying Prevention Month is here. This year, we're dedicating the month to Extraordinary Upstanders, ordinary citizens who see something wrong and do something to make it right. We believe that being an upstander, who speaks up and stands up for themselves and others, is a way of life.
We have some great new resources to share. Look forward to new films, new lesson plans and activity guides that you can use this month and throughout the year.
Week 1: Film & Lesson Plan, White-Out to Erase Bullying
We begin the month with a new film, White-Out to Erase Bullying. It features a community-wide Not In Our School campaign led by student upstanders from Watchung Hills Regional High School who reached out to 13 feeder schools and civic leaders in the region.
Here’s what you can look forward to as the month goes along:
In
Week 3, we will be launching a series of 16 Upstander videos. We kick off this series with a
profile on Eliza Riley , a disability rights advocate in Silicon Valley who has developed a youth leadership program for people with disabilities.
We end the month in
Week 4, with another extraordinary upstander from the new series,
DeMonte Smith . After being bullied for his small size and the pitch of his voice, DeMonte decided to join Safe School Ambassadors at his middle school to reduce the amount of bullying he saw at his school. As a leader in Safe School Ambassadors, a program of
Community Matters , DeMonte uses the social skills of influential students to create positive change in schools.
About the Extraordinary People series: Each month, we’ll bring you a new short film in the Extraordinary People series. The series was originally produced by NIOS’s parent company, The Working Group, for the Institute for Advancing Unity. Each film profiles an upstander, a truly extraordinary person. These films create empathy with people from many backgrounds sharing different perspectives to inspire students to be change agents. Now all films are available to
stream here.
National Bullying Prevention Month is a great opportunity to kick off a Not In Our School campaign on your campus with any of the new films above. Get started with our Not In Our School Anti-Bullying Quick Start Guide .