"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is an all too familiar phrase that I'm sure we have all heard at one time or another in our lives. What about "You are what you eat". OR how about this one: "You are what people say you are". The last one most of us can look at it and think or say "That is a very ridiculous". But is it? I for one started to believe that. When I was in Grade seven, all my girl friends decided to drop me and "de" friend me. This abandonment turned into harassment when we all entered grade 8 and continued right up until grade 12. The words from these particular girls were not life giving, nor encouraging but rather belittling and degrading. I started to believe these words about myself. Enduring teenager "hood" is challenging enough without having to embark negative words said against and to you. Unfortunately these words haunted me for about 15 years. Finally I had to make a choice: to fully accept and LIFE who I really was, or continue my life believing the negative words. I continue to walk forward with my life and work on not caring what people are thinking. Looking back, because of the harsh behaviour towards me has made and forced me to be strong, and confident, and compassionate. However I had to make that CHOICE. Don't waste anymore time believing negative words spoken against you, or to you.

One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don't invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.
- Michelle Obama

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Tammy B

Mitchell Wilson bullying case: Not-guilty verdict for accused attacker

As I read the article below my heart was filled with anguish, and my head was full of questions. What drives an 11 year old to commit suicide? This story probably hits close to home for me because I have an 11 year old son myself. What goes through an 11 year old boy's head before he tries to kill himself? How does one so young feel such desperation and hopelessness. And to worsen the fresh wound of loss for the parents, it seems as though justice wasn't served. What preventative action(s) could have been done before a horrific tragedy occured. I believe that the proper education and research on bully prevention is becoming more and more crucial. That we don't become immune or turn the other way when we see yet another "anti-bully" slogan or promotion awareness. We need to be alert to bully awareness and that it's not just becoming the new trend. I invite you to stop by our website to view our short video on "Is your child being bullied" It lists the signs and symptoms of a child being bullied.

Tammy B

Read Full Article - Mitchell Wilson

B.C Teachers Federation Loses Battle

The B.C. Teachers Federation has lost its effort to force school boards to impose provincial anti-bullying programs that were ordered four years ago.

Read Full Story

At Royal Oak Walmart Today

Hi folks at Royal Oak Walmart today handing out info and Fundraising

Lady Gaga Meeting with Obama to End Bullying after Fan Suicide

A 14-year-old boy, Jamey Rodemeyer, who took his life on Sunday Sept 18/11, was bullied over his sexuality. He described in videos how he was made fun of at school and received many hateful messages on line. He talked about suicide many times before; he was also a fan of Lady Gaga, who uses her voice to accept the gay and lesbian public. She is looking to meet with President Obama to further discuss the issue.

In this case a child goes to school and is so extremely harassed by other children, that he starts talking about suicide publicly. How can no one do anything about this? This occurred in the State of New York, which is one state that hasn’t passed a formal anti-bully law yet.

Children are not allowed to steal, drive, drink, own a credit card, but they are allowed to use their mouth and computer to hurt someone, to the point of suicide. This is wrong, it is a crime, and should have consequences. Domestic violence isn’t legal or tolerated why should violence resulting from hateful words spoken or written go unchecked?

Cyber –bullying which affects an estimated 1/3 of the population is becoming fatal all too often.

Read the Full Story

I was talking to a big “Biker type” business leader last week, looking for sponsorship for the program. The conversation started off with him very firmly saying he disliked Bullies to the extent he gets involved every time he sees one. Nothing unusual so far for a man of this persona, then he said just as adamantly that his mother was a Bully and still was. I cracked a slight smile as at first my brain was trying to picture this big tough looking man who was probably in his late 40’s or early 50’s being bullied by his mom. Very quickly though the mental images that made me crack a grin vanished as I realized he was deadly serious.

Then I came across this article online this week, that talks about parental bullying and how it is often over looked, taking a back seat to cyber bullying, school yard bullying and office bullying.

The Article makes a good point that parental bullying can have a domino affect and warrants more attention…

Read the Full Article

New Jersey passes “toughest”Anti-Bullying Law yet. This new law will go into effect on September 1, 2011 and has been in the works since last year. As most agree that the law reaffirms the goals of schools towards Bullying, it will still take many years to create healthier school cultures. Some are worried about its implementation, as there is the danger that the new law could lead to over reporting of bullying. As what is bullying often comes down to one’s perception. Perception of course varies substantially depending on what side of the Bullying equation that you sit.

Read the Full Story – nj.com

Community Awareness & Fundraiser at Sears in Olds - Saturday August 13, 2011

Thanks to Rob and his staff at Sears in Olds for hosting a public awareness fundraiser for Stopbully.com on Saturday, it was a really nice day.

Bullying affects everyone and is timeless, this is neat story of how a teenage Micheal Chow, now 72 and a famous celebrity restaurateur, moved to England and suffered Bullying because of his race… he was able to turn things around.

Its taken from The Telegraph today…

By Adam Lusher
7:00AM BST 07 Aug 2011

The Shanghai-born 72-year-old has seen his Knightsbridge, Beverly Hills, New York and Miami restaurants patronised by everyone from the Beatles to Andy Warhol, via Ingrid Bergman and Federico Fellini.
Yet he tells The Sunday Telegraph's Seven magazine that he resorted to wearing his trademark tortoiseshell glasses to ward off racists.
"When I first came to England I realised that two things could let you off the hook race-wise: Eccentricity and fame. For that reason I call them my 'anti-racism' glasses, because people look at the glasses more than me, so the Chinese part begins to disappear."
He buys the glasses from Cutler and Gross, whose Knightsbridge store is behind his restaurant, and they are now sold by the opticians as "Mr Chow spectacles".

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Quick HI at Parkland Mall

Last minute fill in Parkland Mall yesterday - for Red Deer Talent Show...
Just a two minute explanation on StopBully.com and its history...

Outside doing some public awareness with brochures and a little Fundraising - Red Deer Walmart