Delco Council Delcares October Bullying Prevention Month

The Delaware County Council has declared October Bullying Prevention Month in the county and is encouraging all residents to stand up to all forms of bullying. The council is also encouraging young people who face challenges involving bullying, mental health or substance abuse to join the youth empowerment group MY LIFE.

“Every day, children and young people are being bullied in schools, on buses and over their cell phones. As a parent, this issue hits home,” County Councilman Dave White said at Wednesday's County Council meeting. “It’s not acceptable for any child, in the classroom, on the playground or online, to feel afraid, to be abused or bullied.”

2016 marks the 10th anniversary of observing National Bullying Prevention Month, which was founded by Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights' Nationally Bullying Prevention Center. The Center says bullying is neither a rite of passage or a part of a normal childhood.

White said one group that partners with the county's Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health stands out in the fight against bullying.

"One group that stands out is MY LIFE, which stands for Magellan Youth Leaders Inspiring Future Empowerment," White said.

Formed in 2008, MY LIFE encourages youths to share stories of behavioral health and foster careissues with others through meetings, performances, events, social media, and more to support one another. MY LIFE members are between 13 and 23 years old and have experience with a mental health, substance abuse, or foster care-related issue or have family or friends experiencing those issues.

Delaware County's MY LIFE group will host an anti-bullying event at 6 p.m. on Oct. 11 at the Community YMCA of Eastern Delaware County in Lansdowne.

“We commend the MY LIFE members for this civic activity,” White said.

The County Council presented a resolution for Bullying Prevention Month to Shannon Fitzpatrick Thomas, Jeanne Ewing and Christina Gordon from the county Office of Behavioral Health; Shawn Carroll, Certified Peer Specialist with Magellan Behavioral Health; and Daniel Taber, a founding member of Delaware County MY LIFE.

Click here for more information on Pennsylvania's MY LIFE groups

Image via Delaware County Council