Mission Accomplished!

We have completed our giveaway of 3,000 copies of The Bullying Antidote!

After two years connecting with dozens of Oakland organizations, we put the last 800 copies of the books directly into the hands of Oakland parents at a Back to School Rally.

The word “Zorgos” was on everyone’s lips, thanks to a new acrostic that teaches positive parenting philosophy.

We are celebrating the end of our project with a banquet at Oakland’s historic Bellevue Club, featuring reports from readers and five winners of the Zorgos Awards (to be announced in a press release the week before.)

Nominate someone who inspires Zorgos, the superpower that prevents bullying!

(All nominees will be listed in our press release—make yours today.)

The evening begins with cocktails at 5pm and dinner at 6. Tickets are sliding scale from $25 to $40 and include a buffet dinner and beverage. There is a cash bar open until the event ends at 8pm.

Seats are limited…reserve yours today! 

Can’t make it to the event? Don’t worry, you can celebrate anywhere! Your $5 donation will help sponsor a meal for our awardees.

“What we nurture is what we get. Instead of nurturing bullying, we need to superpower our kids with Zorgos at every level of society.” —The Bullying Antidote, Chapter 19: Superpowering Our Kids
(See chapter excerpt in Aces Too High)

Cheers!
Kristen, Louise & TEAM ZORGOS!

Press Release

 

Flabbergasted…and Inspired.

First Lady Melania Trump recently addressed the United Nations about the problems of cyberbullying. After eight months of intolerant and aggressive actions by her husband, not to mention a constant stream of inflammatory bully-victim rhetoric on Twitter, the irony of her focus is as flabbergasting as her speech is inspiring.

In her speech, she discusses ethics, moral imperatives, and civic engagement, plus teaching children empathy.“Our choices on how we raise and educate our children will in fact provide the blue print for the next generation.” Her cry to connect parents was moving.

“When we join together as parents caring for children, whether they live in our own families, across the street, across the nation, or across the globe, we claim our responsibility to the next generation to ensure they are prepared to accept the torch of leadership for the world of tomorrow,” Trump said. “No child should ever feel hungry, stalked, frightened, terrorized, bullied, isolated or afraid, with nowhere to turn.”

Mrs. Trump, we applaud your words and good intentions. They are true no matter what your husband does.

We may have Melania to thank for the fact Trump has not removed https://www.stopbullying.gov/, the website created by the Obama administration—which, for readers of this blog, has cyberbullying resources on the front page.

For all her interest in #stopchildhoodbullying, Mrs. Trump is married to someone who was a childhood bully, an aggressive boy raised by an autocrat. Hopefully he will listen to her speech about the Golden Rule. It might be new to him.

 

5 Ways to Celebrate Zorgos Day … Anywhere!

The mayor of Oakland has proclaimed October 15th “Zorgos Day.” (You can read the proclamation here.) Here are some ways to celebrate it.

1. Read a chapter of The Bullying Antidote with a friend or family member. Don’t have the book? The first three chapters and discussion questions for the whole book can be found here. There are good questions in every chapter!
2. Look through the slides from our back-to-school presentation.
3. Download “What to Do When…” and share with other parents.
4. Talk with your kids, your friends, your parents. Draw pictures, write poems, talk about how you moved from picked-on to powerful. Maybe write an acrostic together!  Share it with us.
5. Check out all the great ideas and resources available right here in The Zorgos Reader!

Say you are coming to our Zorgos Day Everywhere Facebook Event! Share something!

Make every day a Zorgos Day!

Have you got some other good ideas? Let us know!

 

Two Presidents. Two Agendas.

What’s next?

WE are the antidote to bullying.

ZORGOS stands for…

Here are some acrostics, or poetic treatments of the word Zorgos. Feel free to share… or add your own!

 

 

 

This one is part of The Bullying Antidote workshop, and was taught to parents at Frank Ogawa Plaza at this year’s Back to School Rally. Watch the video!