Fourth Annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week Is Oct. 4 - 10, 2009

/PRNewswire/ -- As part of PACER Center's fourth annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, Oct. 4-10, 2009, children, teens, adults, schools, and communities across the country are encouraged to partner with PACER to prevent bullying. The movement is being given a boost with the launch of PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org -- a relevant, edgy Web site created by and for teens. In addition to videos, stories, blogs, and social networking, the site features a toolbox of things teens and schools can do to address bullying -- from creating their own videos to performing role plays for younger students.

Every day, more than 160,000 children nationwide stay home from school to avoid bullying. Up to one-third of the nation's students are bullied during the academic year, and more than 60 percent witness bullying daily. The results of bullying can be devastating -- or even tragic.

"It's time to take action," said Paula Goldberg, PACER's executive director. "Teachers, parents, students, and adults throughout each community must work together to create a climate that doesn't accept bullying."

In addition to visiting PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org for teens and PACERKidsAgainstBullying.org for elementary school children, people can help prevent bullying in several ways. Free activities to help reduce bullying in schools, recreational programs, and community groups, and materials such as contests, classroom toolkits, and more are available at PACER.org. Organizations and schools can partner with PACER by sending an e-mail to bullying411@PACER.org with the name of their school or organization, their Web site URL, and a note about what their school is doing to support bullying prevention. Partners are listed on PACER's bullying prevention Web sites.

The week is sponsored by PACER's National Center for Bullying Prevention, which is for all children, including those with disabilities. It promotes national bullying awareness and teaches effective ways to respond to bullying. National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week is cosponsored by the American Federation for Teachers, National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, National Education Association, and School Social Work Association of America.

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