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SEPTEMBER 2006
The Friendly Schools and Families website (www.friendlyschools.com.au)
presents the Friendly Schools & Families Program,
a bullying reduction program for Primary and Secondary school
communities. It provides an extensive toolkit for teachers, schools
administrators, parents and students to effectively reduce bullying.
The Friendly Schools & Families Program is based
on six years of rigorous research by the Child Health Promotion
Research Unit, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.
The Program uses evidenced-based ‘small steps for success’
to help school communities systematically tailor and implement
strategies for the whole-school, classroom, individuals and families
to improve social skills and reduce bullying. Significant reduction
in bullying behaviour, greater feelings of safety and happiness
coming to school and an increase in social skills has been shown
among students who received the program.
It was all about footy and finance on Friday July 7th when the MCG played host
to The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s NAB Half Time Wrap corporate
lunch. The event, now in its third year, was sold to capacity
with more than 340 guests being entertained by a spectacular
mix of footy and finance stars.
We raised $73,462 from the event; funds so
vital for the Foundation to continue its work of keeping children
safe from violence.
Special thanks to all our major sponsors as
well as a number of individuals:
John Stewart and the team at NAB; Jo Cox from
Corporate Business Productions; Peter Duncan and Nine Network
for assisting with filming; the support of fantastic talent including
Tony Jones, Bridget McIntyre, Ross Greenwood, Trevor Marmalade
and Nathan Buckley; Robert DiPierdomenico and his Work@Play team
plus Terry Wallance for their tremendous support and passion
for the pre-event; Luke Darcy, Nick Riewoldt, Mick Malthouse
and Ron Barassi for giving their valuable time; Jason Scillio
from Kay & Burton as auctioneer; all companies and individuals who generously donated prizes
and auction items; to all our guests and a huge thank you to
all our fabulous volunteers. Photos
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s 2007
Half Time Wrap will have a change of venue and be held in the
larger Member’s Dining Room at the MCG. If you would like to
be part of what is now a permanent fixture on the footy and finance
calendar mark July 6th 2007 in your diary now!
To purchase individual tickets, a table or
to enquire about sponsorship opportunities, please contact The
Alannah and Madeline Foundation on 03 9697 0666 or info@amf.org.au.
Girlfriend magazine today launched Australia’s Official Ban Bullying
Campaign, with the support of the Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s
National Coalition Against Bullying (NCAB). In
a rare media feat, magazines across the Pacific Magazines’ stable
and Channel Seven have rallied together to support the important
issue of bullying in schools.
Magazines Girlfriend, Explode, New Idea, That’s Life, Better Homes
& Gardens, Family Circle, K-Zone and Total Girl and Seven’s
#1 rating breakfast show, Sunrise will team up in an effort to
ensure both children and parents are aware of and educated about
the issue of bullying.
‘Pacific Magazines is especially passionate about the issue of
bullying and Girlfriend’s ban bullying campaign. We are market
leaders in youth publishing and have a social responsibility to
our readers to lead the fight against this problem. The entire
magazine group is ready to pool in resources to ensure maximum
exposure and success for the campaign over the next 12 months’,
said Nick Chan CEO, Pacific Magazines.
The aim of the 12-month campaign is to raise awareness of the
damage caused when people stand by and do nothing when bullying
takes place, and to raise much needed funds for the Alannah &
Madeline Foundation.
Girlfriend has also secured a national radio broadcast partner
in DMG, through their Nova network. And online support of the
campaign is through the cult, youth online luxury hotel game,
Habbo Hotel. The campaign is also rolling out through Girlfriend’s
web site www.girlfriend.com.au, the strength of which was recognised
at 2005’s Magazine of the Year Awards with the title securing
a General Excellence Online win – complementing previous acclaim
as Australia’s #1 Lifestyle-Women’s site. And Suprè, the #1 fashion
retailer for teen girls has come on board as retail partner.
‘We are so pleased with the high level of support we are receiving
for the campaign - from the Government, media, business and celebrities.
It is clear that the issue of bullying is of paramount importance
and we believe that we can really make a difference with this
campaign,’ said Sarah Oakes, Editor of Girlfriend.
‘We are particularly excited about having the support of the Alannah
and Madeline Foundation’s National Coalition Against Bullying,
which gives so much weight to Girlfriend’s campaign,’ she stated.
Alarming Statistics* · 80% who observe bullying do nothing· 50%
who are bullied do not report it· 54% of young people do not feel
safe at school· 80% believe that there’s nothing you can do about
it· 1 in 6 kids are bullied every week · The worst bullying occurs
in the last 10 minutes of lunchtime *Dr Ken Rigby, Ph D, ‘Bullying
in Schools and What to Do About It’ Objectives of the Campaign
- Educating teenagers on what behaviours are considered bullying
and what behaviours are unacceptable- Encouraging them to speak
up about bullying and providing them a with as many avenues as
possible for doing that- Increasing community awareness of the
problem- Raising much-needed funds for the Alannah and Madeline
Foundation.
A disturbing trend is that teenagers who bully are more likely
to grow up to bully their partners and their own children. Girlfriend
is the ideal vehicle to communicate this message to teens as recent
figures show a massive reach in this demographic - 431,000 readers
of the magazine and 130,929 unique visitors to the web site a
month.
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer,
Dr Judith Slocombe, said, “The Girlfriend Ban Bullying campaign
will assist our young people to develop and understand key values
and social skills which will help reduce bullying in our community.
Building a culture of caring, responsibility and respect creates
a safer environment. We need to engage our young people, parents,
schools and the whole community in addressing this important issue.”
Girlfriend’s celebrity ambassadors include international style
icons Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, Nova 969’s Lizzy Lovette
and Bianca Dye; Australian singer/songwriter Jade MacRae; Australian
Idol Lee Harding, Home and Away stars Indiana Evans, Reece Wakefield
and Mark Firth; Blue Water High’s Tahyna Tozzi and Adam Saunders;
Faker’s Nathan Hudson and Sunrise's Grant Denyer and Monique Wright.
Girlfriend has teamed up with retail partner Supré, Australia’s
#1 fashion retailer for teen girls, who will sell the official
ban bullying campaign singlet and dogtags. All profits will be
donated to the Alannah & Madeline Foundation*, which boasts
Crown Princess Mary as International Patron along with Prime Minister,
John Howard as National Patron and Victorian Premier, Steve Bracks
as State Patron.
Findings from Girlfriend’s preliminary online research survey
www.girlfriend.com.au
will be published in the March issue of Girlfriend, on sale 1
February 2006. National Ban Bullying Week begins
6 February 2006.
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation is a children’s charity that
aims to eliminate violence in the lives of children. The Foundation
supports children who are victims of violent crime or sudden family
loss, and runs programs to reduce bullying which is one of the
most common forms of violence in our community.
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation has brought together a group
of experts on bullying, forming the National Coalition Against
Bullying (NCAB) to advise and inform the Australian community
on the issue of bullying at school, work, in the community and
at home.
Chaired by Alastair Nicholson, former Chief Justice of the Family
Court of Australia, NCAB provides:
- a vehicle to raise awareness of the seriousness of bullying
in Australian society
- an avenue to address bullying related issues through information,
advocacy, and education related activities
- bullying related expert advice, through its members, to those
developing and implementing school and community based programs
For further information and interviews with Dr Judith Slocombe,
Chief Executive Officer of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation,
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, official expert throughout the campaign
or Sarah Oakes, Editor of Girlfriend, please contact Julia Fraser
Ph: (03) 9830 2577 Email: julia.fraser@amf.org.au.
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