Bullying Prevention Institute Designed to Empower Change ...(zations educators and state agencies to ...),Health

Bullying can be extremely painful and humiliating. Children who are bullied are more likely to suffer from depression and low self-esteem. One of the newer forms of bullying happens on-line or electronically. Cyberbullying is when children or teens bully each other using the Internet, mobile phones or other cyber technology. This can include: sending mean text, e-mail or instant messages; posting nasty pictures or messages about others in blogs or on Web sites; and using someone else's user name to spread rumors or lies.

The Bullying Prevention Institute will provide the tools and resources that school administrators, counselors, educators, school nurses, policy makers and social workers need to create or improve the bullying prevention programs in their schools.

Bullying Prevention 101: A look at the Basics of Bullying and Prevention will be held on Thursday, Oct. 4, and includes an afternoon of information ideal for attendees new to bullying prevention and for those wanting to improve on existing programs. On Friday, Oct. 5, Tackling the Difficult Issues: Taking Action for Success, will expand into areas of cyberbullying, emotional violence and the steps for intervention. In addition, on Friday, there will be a special session for teens designed to equip them with the tools needed to act as change agents in their schools.

"Safe school environments are critical to the academic success of students," said Matthew Masiello, MD, director of community health, Conemaugh Health System and architect of the Highmark Healthy High 5 HALT program. If students are worried about their safety in school, their focus gets diverted, making it exceedingly more difficult to succeed academically. We are proud to be a signature partner of Highmark Healthy High 5, and through this partnership, we have a great opportunity to expand the HALT Bullying P
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