The month of October is NATIONAL BULLYING PREVENTION MONTH!

JOIN CHILDREN, TEENS, ADULTS & SENIORS WHO ORGANIZE SIMPLE ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE KINDNESS THROUGHOUT BREVARD COUNTY!

The Emotional Wellness Center is encouraging the community to participate in October activities which recognize National Bullying Prevention Month, a campaign founded in 2006 by PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. http://www.pacer.org/bullying/

The goal is to replace unkind behaviors with more respectful behaviors. The target populations are children, teens, adults and seniors because unkind behaviors occur every day to people of all ages, and can occur any time and any place. The community is encouraged to plan simple activities which can enhance more peaceful and kinder relationships.

According to Lorraine Edey, PhD, LCSW, AFC, “When children or adults spend time talking about themes such as peace and kindness, the energy being created provides opportunities for environments to stay or to become more positive and free of unkind behaviors or words”.

Here are a few examples of activities:

1. Plan a Kindness Week in which children and adults focus on talking to and treating each other with kindness; this can be organized within our homes, our neighborhoods, work places, schools, colleges, retirement communities, recreational facilities or any other locations where people work or gather. This can be expanded to when we are driving, when using social media and when using cell phones or other electronic devices.

2. Distribute “Kindness, Pass It On…” stickers, buttons, pencils, etc. to children, teens, adults and seniors who does a random act of kindness and then asking them to pass on the symbolic item to someone else that they see showing kindness.

3. In work place or other group meetings or during class time, provide time for and then ask people to share what peace and kindness means to them.

4. Remind children/students and adults of ways to try to stay calm during conflicts so they can focus on using more peaceful and productive ways to resolve conflicts.

5. Brief kindness messages (e.g. “You are awesome!”) can be written on post a notes and placed on school or office desks or anywhere unsuspecting people will find them.

6. Organize a neighborhood “Kindness, Pass It On” celebration.

Wednesday, October 19th is National Unity Day; join others across the country who will wear orange to represent unity in promoting more peaceful and kinder relationships. More activities, including kindness quotes and facts about kindness for work places, sports, communities, schools, for families and for animals, can be found on these websites www.cityofkindness.org , www.randomactsofkindness.org and http://www.peaceoneday.org/ .

This information was brought to you by The Emotional Wellness Center, a Healing Place of Inspiration, Motivation and Transformation, Promoting Kindness Through Actions. If you would like more information, please contact Lorraine Edey at 321-288-0692 or by email at LoriDey@aol.com or Renee’ Ruffin-Price at 321-749-0060 or by email at rruffinprice@gmail.com . ADDRESS: PO Box 100319 Palm Bay, FL 32910