DCU for Kids Sponsoring Conference on Bullying Prevention

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

GolocalWorcester News Team

Worcester's DCU for Kids will sponsor a statewide bullying prevention and education conference to be held at South High this Thursday that will feature keynote speaker, Mass Attorney General, Martha Coakley.

The conference will draw close to 400 educators, juvenile justice, and law enforcement professionals from across the Commonwealth. The Bullying Prevention and Education Conference is part of DCU for Kids’ initiatives to address the serious concerns of bullying.

“We need to continue to foster safe environments for students and this collaborative effort is both needed and significant. It's about raising awareness, sharing ideas, taking those ideas back to the community and creating an atmosphere that promotes mutual respect and understanding inside and outside our schools,” said John LaHair, DCU’s Public Relations. “It’s our hope that by being a part of this initiative, we can help educate, break the chain of aggression, end the hurt, and save lives.”

DCU for Kids is a non-profit charitable foundation of DCU (Digital Federal Credit Union). To date, DCU for Kids has made charitable donations that total nearly $5,000,000. DCU for Kids net
fundraising revenue is at 98%, all of which goes directly to children and families in need.

The conference will be held on Thursday, February 28, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. till 2:30 p.m. at South High Community School located at 170 Apricot Street in Worcester, MA.

The B.R.A.C.E. (Bullying Remediation and Court Education) Project is also helping to organize and present the conference. The group is an innovative collaboration of the Worcester Public Schools, Juvenile Court, Police Department, Office of the District Attorney, Department of Probation, and Youth Opportunities Upheld (Y.O.U., Inc.).

The B.R.A.C.E. partners offer full school-day bullying education workshops which provide a more targeted, in-depth approach to addressing repeated or increasingly serious incidents of bullying. The B.R.A.C.E. Project provides a cost-effective, “second tier” action plan designed to engage not only the bullying student, but also his or her family in a day of education and training around the destructive effects of bullying, and the grave legal and financial consequences of bullying activity.

Worcester Public Schools is using the conference as a way to display some of the steps it's taking towards combating bullying, mainly the B.R.A.C.E. program and the school system's involvement with The Bully Project.