No Name-Calling Week (January 24th - 28th)

I learned from Jessica over at Confessions of a Bookaholic  that today marks the beginning of No Name-Calling week. I visited www.nonamecallingweek.org and read more about this cause and it is something that I absolutely have to support. The following information is located in the FAQ section on nonamecallingweek.org.

WHAT IS NO NAME-CALLING WEEK?

No Name-Calling Week (NNCW) is an annual opportunity for students to discuss their experiences and feelings towards name-calling and bullying in schools. No Name-Calling Week 2011 will be held from January 24-28. Every year thousands of educators conduct NNCW activities in the classroom. Visit www.nonamecallingweek.org for more information or to get activity ideas for your school. 



THE HISTORY OF THE NO NAME-CALLING WEEK PROJECT
No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. Though they lose the election, they win the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school.


Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No Name-Calling Week Coalition, created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, and consisting of over 40 national partner organizations, organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation during the week of March 1-5, 2004. This year, No Name-Calling Week will take place the week of January 24-28, 2011. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities.

HOW CAN WE HELP!?

It's easy! Grab a button to put on your blog or site or create your own blog post about this great cause. We must spread awareness of bullying to prevent it. It existed when my parents were in school, it existed when I was in school, and it still exists today. I have nieces and nephew still in middle school/high school and I am going to forward the lesson plan information to their schools in hopes to at least educate the schools that there are resources for anti-bullying. I can't control if they don't do anything with the information, but we have to at least try and spread the word.