A couple of years back I had made a presentation in Palo Alto, CA, about long-term psychological impact of bullying. I had spoken to a group of summer camp staff at the City of Palo Alto. It was encouraging to note that the city was focusing on this issue.
A lot of bullying is still going on around the country and a lot of victims are still suffering. And there are many individuals around who still believe that this is not a big issue. That is why it was good to see some organizers were taking this matter seriously.
I do believe that there is a significant amount of effort being put in these days by many adults around the country to try to prevent bullying. This training organized by the city of Palo Alto was another excellent example. I believe that I was able to deliver the message that bullying can have significant long-term psychological impact.
I also liked the fact that the city of Palo Alto was putting this training together because they believed that bullying could be an issue with kids coming in for the summer camps. They were recognizing that bullying does not happen just in schools, it can also happen in other situations like summer camps. They wanted to make sure that every child attending the camps should be allowed to enjoy the summer camp experience instead of wanting to leave the camp because of being bullied. I was impressed with this effort by the city of Palo Alto and hope that others will follow.