Montgomery Stands Strong Against Bullying - an anti-bullying town hall meeting

January 19, 2011

Montgomery, Ala. - The Public Relations Council of Alabama/Montgomery Chapter has partnered with the City of Montgomery, The Montgomery County Commission, The Town of Pike Road, Montgomery Public Schools, the Alabama National Guard, Frazer United Methodist Church, Central Alabama CrimeStoppers, BONDS, Web Safety (Dallas, Texas), Mr. G’s Italian Restaurant, Walker 360, and Fairfield Inn and Suites of Montgomery to host a FREE public town hall meeting on Sunday, January 23, 2011, at Frazer United Methodist Church’s Wesley Hall. The meeting, Montgomery Stands Strong Against Bullying, will be emceed by local celeb-rity and former WSFA-TV news anchor, Kim Hendrix. Special guests will be Jessica Brookshire, founder/CEO of The K.A.R.M.A. Foundation, an acronym for Kids Against Ridicule, Meanness and Aggression and Tina Meier of the Megan Meier Foundation. Both women will speak from their perspectives of how bullying has touched their lives: Brookshire, as bullying survivor and Meier, as the mother of a 13-year-old daughter who committed suicide due to cyber-bullying. Parents and children, ages 6th grade and up are encouraged to attend and learn more about this national epidemic. Space for the event is limited, so please come early to assure seating.

In a study by the National Education Association, it was estimated that over 160,000 children miss school each day due to fear of attack or intimidation by another student. To further the point, it was also reported that 71% of students across the U.S. report incidents of bullying are a problem in their own schools.
Brookshire says that the mission of K.A.R.M.A is to teach children to understand the power of their words, to think of the feelings of others before they speak, and to lend a helping hand to those in need. “No child should be criticized for his or her appearance, economic status, race, gender, hobbies or beliefs. Instead, we should celebrate our diversity and seize the opportunity to learn from one another’s differences,” she added.
During the program, the Girl Scouts of East Alabama will be recognized for earning the first K.A.R.M.A. anti-bullying patches in the state and representatives from city and county governments will be present to proclaim the week of January 23 - 29, 2011, as Anti-Bullying Awareness Week in the River Region.
To learn more about the K.A.R.M.A. program, visit www.TheKARMA.org. To learn more about the Town Hall meeting, visit http://www.standstrongagainstbullying.com

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