Fourth Annual Bullying Prevention & Education Conference
The 4th Annual Bullying Prevention and Education Conference will be held on Thursday March 3rd at North High School
Keynote Speaker
Kirk Smalley – Stand for the Silent
Stand for the Silent was organized in 2010 by a group of students from the Oklahoma State University/Oklahoma City Upward Bound Chapter after they heard the story of Kirk and Laura Smalley’s son, Ty Field-Smalley. At eleven years old, Ty took his own life after being suspended from school for retaliating against a student that had been bullying him for more than two years. Kirk was featured in director Lee Hirsch’s feature film, “Bully.”
Stand for the Silent exists as a platform to allow Kirk and Laura to share their story and offer education and tools that will prevent their tragedy from happening to another child and family. Kirk and Laura’s mission is to continue to change kids’ lives and bring awareness to bullying and the real devastation it causes. Since May 2010, Kirk and Laura Smiley have traveled to over a thousand schools and spoken with more than 1,000,000 kids.
Afternoon Keynote
Sameer Hinduja, PhD – Co-Director, Cyberbullying Research Center
Dr. Hinduja’s presentation will cover a comprehensive range of topics related to cyberbullying, sexting, and unsafe social networking. Participants will come away with the skills and knowledge to:
* Identify popular online environments among adolescents today.
* Understand youth brain development and how it affects online decisions.
* Teach youth how to use social networking responsibly.
* Identify the best ways to structure formal policy.
* Learn about civil and criminal actions that can be pursued.
* Discover ways organizations can assess the problem and reduce its prevalence.
* Realize when and how to informally and formally monitor electronic communications.
* Learn how other community members can be enlisted to help.
* Understand what teens themselves can do to safeguard their Internet experiences.
* Understand the critical importance of creating and maintaining a positive organizational climate to prevent misbehaviors.