Peguero part of Cartoon Network's Stop Bullying campaign

Anthony Peguero, assistant professor of sociology and gerontology at Miami University, is among a group of experts who have helped develop the Cartoon Network's new anti-bullying campaign, Stop Bullying: Speak Up. The on-air and online campaign launched this week to coordinate with the fifth annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week (Oct. 4-10).

Peguero, who conducts research on bullying and school violence, was contacted by the Cartoon Network last fall to help develop the campaign, along with several other experts from academia and from government agencies.

The Stop Bullying: Speak Up bullying awareness and prevention program is geared toward middle schools, where experts say bullying is most common. It targets children who witness bullying, giving them appropriate techniques to intervene: speak up, tell an adult, be friendly and get involved.

Bystanders represent the 75 to 85 percent of students in schools that witness incidents of bullying every year, whether on the playground, in the classroom, on the bus, on social media websites, or cell phones, according to the campaign.

Peguero joined Miami in 2006 after receiving his doctorate from the University of Miami.

About bullying, he states that:

• Depending on the school, the violence becomes a “social event.”
• Youth need to report what they see and engage teachers/adults to address bullying in their schools.
• The only way to stop the culture in which bullying continues is to impress upon children that it is unacceptable behavior.
• Bullying varies across groups - gender, immigration, race, ability, age and sexual orientation.

For more information about Stop Bullying: Speak Up, go to www.stopbullyingspeakup.com. The campaign will run through the end of October, National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month.