“Where All Can Safely Live,” a curriculum for intergenerational anti-bullying education, is now available from Lutherans Concerned/North America. Drawn from material provided by the United States Government, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and the Pacific Violence Prevention Institute (PVPI), the four one-hour long sessions are ideal for small or large educational sessions or current issues forums in congregations to include everyone from youth to elders.
Emily Eastwood, Executive Director, Lutherans Concerned/North America, said, “Bullying is a type of oppression, a danger to all because of the consequences to the lives of young people within our churches and our society. Bullying is completely antithetical to everything Christ taught and we as Christians believe. Bullying for any reason should not be tolerated. This curriculum can help educate youth and adults on how to deal with it and eventually prevent its occurrence.”
Research clearly shows that bullying can have very serious consequences alike for the victims, perpetrators, those who stand idly by, and indeed for the fabric of our church and society.
Grounded in Scripture, the sessions are intended to create a shared understanding that debunks common myths about bullying, develops a common language about the subject, and leads to learning techniques to combat bullying when it occurs. The sessions draw on the direct or indirect experiences of bullying from those participating in the sessions. The goal is to make bullying less prevalent in the future by finding ways of creating systematic change, one component of which is a shared and pervasive dedication to working against bullying.
The sessions lay out the essentials of bullying information for people of faith. Included are sessions on bullying intervention and prevention. The final session is all about action-planning, that is, what can be done in and by congregations and members of congregations in their own communities.
The Anti-Bullying Curriculum is available for download under Resources on www.lcna.org.