Forwarded by Judy Miriga

From: First Lady Michelle Obama

Good morning,

As a mother, it breaks my heart to think of any child feeling alone or afraid in their classrooms, on the playground or even online. But every year, nearly one third of school-aged children — upwards of 13 million students — are bullied.

Bullying in our schools and communities isn’t a rite of passage or part of growing up. It’s unacceptable.

Today, the President and I are attending a White House Conference on Bullying Prevention to talk about how we can work together to make our schools and communities safe for all of our children.

You can watch the Conference live online, participate in special online discussions throughout the day, and watch a special video message from Barack and me:

Every child deserves a chance to grow up happy, healthy and safe. Kids who are bullied are more likely to have challenges in school, abuse drugs or alcohol, or have health and mental health problems. As adults, it’s up to us to send a message that bullying of any kind for any reason isn’t OK.

Parents, teachers, coaches, faith leaders, elected officials, and anyone else involved in our children’s lives have a responsibility to set a good example through our own behavior and to take action when we see bullying in our communities.

That’s what today’s Conference on Bullying Prevention is all about – working together to find solutions to keep all of our children safe. I hope you’ll take some time today to tune in and join the conversation:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/Bullying-Prevention

Sincerely,

Michelle Obama
First Lady of the United States

P.S. To learn more about what you can do in your community to prevent bullying, visit StopBullying.gov.

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 1202-456-1111