New Jersey school district begins anti-bullying campaign

Bullying has gained national prominence as a result of recent teens who committed suicide due to harassment from a peer. Because of this, many schools and organizations are beginning prevention programs in an effort to curb this behavior in children and teens.

For example the Jersey City school district recently announced an anti-bullying campaign called "Be Bold Ban Bullying" in an effort to bring more awareness to the issue, Jersey City Independent reports.

The effort is in reaction to the recent youth suicides that have plagued the state. District officials told the news source that they have formed an anti-bullying task force made up of administrators, teachers, students and parents. Furthermore, more than 800 posters were submitted from teens for the campaign.

A recent district-wide survey shows that 51 incidents of bullying took place during the 2008-09 academic year, while 89 occurred the year before.

“I think the reason the issue has come up again is because technology has evolved,” Sterling Waterman, school board member, told the news source. “The anti-bullying campaign is trying to improve upon the current policy to include things that [have] not happened before.”

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, a total of 7.5 percent of students reported being harassed online in 2009.