A Salt Lake City-based anti-bullying coalition called Flip the Script kicked off a long-term campaign to help reduce bullying. City Council Member Charlie Luke says it started last year when he got a call from a neighbor with a son who was being bullied and didn’t know what to do. He says the police, the parents and the school got involved to successfully stop Highland High School student JT Hiskey from being bullied.
“And that experience, more than anything else, showed me that of the many social ills that we have very, very little control over bullying is something that we can work to end,” says Luke
After the kick-off event Deputy Chief Mike Brown of the Salt Lake Police Department explained the struggles of the bully and the victim.
“Sometimes the bully is the victim. Sometimes it’s the cycle of bullying. Sometimes they’ve been picked on in their life and this is how they deal with stress or situations, overcome some of their own shortcomings. So, that’s what we’re trying to do is try to identify both the victims and the bullies and stop that behavior,” says Brown.
The launch of the multimedia campaign includes six weeks of activities for awareness and action against bullying. There is more information at FlipTheScript dot Org.