Interview with Lowell Levine - President of the Stop Bullying Now Foundation
Anti-bullying interview with Lowell Levine President of Stop Bullying Now Foundation (YouTube video)
Introduction
I have had the pleasure of interviewing anti-bullying advocate Lowell Levine who is the president of the Stop Bullying Now Foundation.
The Foundation operating out of United States, Florida provides education on bullies, and bullying for children, teens, parents, and grandparents. The foundation also works with the schools advocating on behalf of the bullied.
Their economic model allows them to operate purely on donations from companies, organizations, and individuals who are empathetic to their cause. Thus there is no cost to those requiring their help.
Lowell, has stated that he is one of the top 3 anti-bullying advocates in the country - effectively helping hundreds of bullied children.
You can reach Lowell at 1-561-374-0673. Or check out his website at the following link;
Insights
Lowell has said that one of the biggest challenges in his work is getting the schools to cooperate in reducing the bullying problem. In his opinion, the schools are more concerned about their image than those being bullied within their schools. And school administrators fear that addressing a bullying problem in their school could lead them to lose their jobs.
He also points out that no school has a true,'no tolerance' policy when it comes to bullying. And that most schools are inadequately educated on handling the bullying problem but persist to make no constructive changes.
I for one would have to agree with Lowell's assertion. I have personally mailed and shared my bullying story with every school principle, school superintendent, school board member, including the minister of education here in my city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - and not one of them offered to meet me to discuss the bullying problem.
There seems to be a silent conspiracy where schools simply do not want to deal with the bullying problem. Perhaps they are afraid to admit that the education system is incompetent when dealing with the bullying issue.
Bullying is first experienced and learned in the home or within the school. Schools therefore should be concerned with not only the well being of their students but the emotional nurturing of their students.
I believe schools need to be concerned with building and teaching emotional intelligence within their students - not just promoting academic performance. The truth is that those who have a great deal of emotional intelligence tend to be quite successful in their own lives.
Every school has a bullying problem. What the schools do not realize is that if they admitted that they had a bullying problem and were genuinely seeking resolution - their image would be one of a school of integrity that genuinely cares about the well being of their students.
There is a cost to schools that choose to ignore the bullying problem - and that is more High School drop outs, and a over-all lower academic success of that school.
But Schools ought to consider that they are the one's responsible for the type of society that we ultimately have. Because they teach those of us that make up society.
We can either have a society that is empathetic, understanding, compassionate and made up of effective communicators . Or a society only concerned about academic and financial success at the cost of others.
If you live in the United States, and are feeling hopeless or helpless or know someone that is, please call; LIFELINE 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Darryl Learie
