THE DIGITAL FAMILIES PROJECT MARKS NO NAME-CALLING WEEK

Next week is No Name-Calling Week.  From January 19 – 23, schools across the country—from elementary to high school—will be coordinating events, planning lessons, and participating in activities with one clear goal: to put a spotlight on bullying.

“From Fiction to Reality”

Created by the Gay, *** & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Simon & Schuster, No-Name Calling Week was inspired by popular young adult novel The Misfits.  The main characters in the book each face their own form of bullying. 

Together, they “create a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds.”  In the novel, the students inspire their principal to create a No Name-Calling Day” at their school.  No Name-Calling Week takes that idea a few steps further.

Stamping Out Bullying Nationwide

Now supported by more than 60 national organizations, No Name-Calling Week has “grown into one of the largest bullying-prevention initiatives in the country.  GLSEN offers numerous resources to help people take part in this weeklong event:

• For teachers and educators looking to plan events for any grade level—elementary, middle, or high school.
• For students looking to participate with whatever time they have.
• For anyone who wants to follow along on social media, check out the official Facebook page for No Name-Calling Week.

Get Involved

We hope you’ll take some time next week to participate in No Name-Calling Week.  While not exclusively a “digital” problem, the issue of bullying is of course closely related to cyber bullying.  Digital Citizens believes that it is impossible to address one without the other—it all comes down to respecting each other, whether that’s online or in person.

Register and receive updates, lesson plans, and more information about No Name-Calling Week.