What Communities are Doing 

After two years of a successful national effort to communicate the mission of the Stop Bullying Now!

Campaign (SBN!), participation of local communities has been overwhelming! By using Campaign

materials, these community-based initiatives are helping the Stop Bullying Now! Campaign realize its

ultimate goal – to raise awareness about the issue of bullying and reduce bullying among “tweens.”

What are the elements of successful community-based campaigns? 

• Cohesive, consistent, coordinated efforts that include a long-term strategy to prevent bullying

• Consensus on goals, messages, prevention tactics, follow-up, enforcement and evaluation factors

• Engagement by relevant, diverse audiences

• Family, school-community, law enforcement, policymakers, and youth working together to get the

message out

• Local media involvement

Are you looking for ideas on how to use the SBN! Campaign locally? Check out some of these successful

projects around the country that are educating and engaging students, parents, and local communities in

bullying prevention. 

Rosa Parks Middle School

Olney, Maryland

Sherwood High School students from PROJECT CHANGE,

SADD and NOYS developed the “You Have the Power!” Project

(YHTP!) where teens mentored “tweens” to bring the Stop

Bullying Now! message to schools and the community. On

National Youth Service Day (April 15, 2005) the students aired

SBN! Campaign Public Service Announcements

(http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/indexAdult.asp?Area=psas) and

Webisodes (http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp?Area=webisodes),

displayed posters, and aired a student-developed PSA featuring

the “right” and “wrong” way to handle bullying. YHTP! received

national and local media attention and was featured in a

segment of the national PBS broadcast of “In the Mix”

(http://www.pbs.org/inthemix/ Show 801). The YHTP! teens and middle

school students have continued the mentoring relationship and

are currently developing a bullying prevention PSA working with

elementary school students.
These and other materials are available online at: www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov

Bullying Prevention Task Force 

Monroe County, New York 

A Bullying Prevention Task Force created a coalition to share and expand

the reach of ideas and resources. Parents, community agencies, after-school

programs, educators, law enforcement, and mental health professionals

banded together to help spread the word about bullying. SBN! Resource

Kits were distributed at conferences to more than 300 attendees and SBN!

Campaign materials were used in “how-to” workshops by the Task Force.

Additionally, the coalition created a community web-based tool kit, a 10-

minute video with facts and prevention tips about bullying, and sponsored

a student poster contest that involved all 20 school districts. The winning

posters from four different age-groups were displayed on six billboards

around Monroe County.

Kenosha Unified School District

Kenosha, Wisconsin

As part of a larger bullying prevention effort, students in

grades six to eight in the Kenosha Unified School District

have participated in a student poster contest utilizing the

SBN! theme, “Take A Stand. Lend A Hand. Stop Bullying Now!”

The program is in its third year at the school. The winning

posters were featured on billboards around town. In

September 2005, the District premiered a video produced by

the Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development (ASCD) (“A Visit to One School’s Bullying

Prevention Program”) that featured Kenosha’s own John

Bullen Middle School’s comprehensive bullying prevention

program and that highlighted SBN’s Campaign resources.

Meadow Woods Middle School

Orange County, Orlando, Florida 

Meadow Woods Middle School launched a PTA-sponsored

campaign with the slogan, “Got Empathy?” In addition to

conducting workshops with various faith and civic groups in the

community, the middle school printed student artwork and poetry

related to the SBN! theme in their 2004-05 Academic Calendar. The

calendars were distributed to 2,000 middle school households with

SBN! tips for parents. As a part of the “Got Empathy?” campaign, the

school gave away “Got Empathy?” t-shirts to students, displayed

SBN! posters in school hallways, and posted a permanent sign at

the school’s entrance that reads — BULLY FREE ZONE.