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I know that my posts have been few and far between lately and I hope that you know that it's because I have been working very hard to get the word out o self-esteem, diversity and literacy work. When you think about anti-bullying do you also think about back to school? I remember being excited as a young person about going back to school. I always had a nervous feeling but I also felt that this was my opportunity to start fresh and build up new relationships. It was not always easy.

The last thing that I wanted to do was be late to class. Have you ever been late to class on the first day of school? Walking in while the teacher is talking and pause-everyone stares at you and ogles you as you try to find a seat. It is even worse if the seat that you sit in is someone else's and then you have to find another seat. What was your hardest part about adjusting to back to school? Did you have a hard time fitting in? Making new friends? Or finding a place to sit at lunch where you felt welcome? Tell me! I'm working on lots of programming to suit the needs of those who don't always feel comfortable in their schools. For some people back to school time can be the time of the year when they feel the most alone-but we can do something about it. We had an Anti-bullying back to school brunch just recently and gave school supplies, programming and hope to tweens, teens and families and with the help of Bonefish Grill of Novi we even gave them lunch. Would you like to help? Let me know! I'm working on more books, more events and more dialogue to create safe spaces for students and families to talk about these issues.

Hope to hear from you soon and as always Read Something Great!!

Readers, as we take the issue of bullying seriously we must be realistic. Many of us know bullies. They may be in our classrooms, work places or even our homes. The best thing that we can do is to educate young people on how to deal with conflict and anger to prevent them from being bullies. When kids feel equipped to deal with the hard stuff they can navigate problems in a respectful way and become solution-oriented.
Here are some common conflicts that young people face:

1.) Being teased
2.) Being caught in the rumor mill
3.) being called names
4.) being accused
5.) being treated unfairly
6.) Being excluded
7.) being picked on for being different
8.) Being cheated
9.) Being threatened
10.) Mean notes/texts or cyber bullying

It is obvious that many conflicts can lead to bullying but if we can prep young people on how to identify these situations and have a planned response they may be more equipped to deal with them in a positive way. Do you have any ideas on how to deal with bullying? Have you ever helped a bully to reform? What can you share with the readers of this blog to help them continue to build an atmosphere of self-esteem? Your ideas are appreciated. If we all ban together we can eradicate this behavior and move towards a more peaceful future for our kids and adults. If you are free on Friday October 22nd we are having a Anti-bullying Townhall to disucss solutions and strategies to overcome this growing problem. We will be meeting at 118 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor, 48104 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
-Read Something Great!

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to meet so many diverse, creative and talented people. When I go to schools I see kids that have their own style. I love when young people feel comfortable enough to spell their names in a special way and express who they are. The books that I write support this type of thinking. Something incredible happens when we are able to let ourselves evolve into the art of expression. We are not meant to all look alike, act alike or talk in the same way. It is so important that we sincerely celebrate our differences.
How accepting are you of those who are different than you? Have you ever been labeled for being dressed a certain way or because of your personality? I have been labeled so much in my life that it is hard to count.
I created the Breaking The Pattern Anti-Bullying project this Fall. This project helps people to have healthy dialogue about their experiences with bullies and solutions to end this problem that is attacking not only our youth but our adults as well. We will be having many online forums including informal polls and up close and personal meet-ups where we discuss this topic thoroughly.
If we don't talk about it-we can't change it.
-Read something great