Goldfish and Free The Children Partner to Take Action

I love when beautiful things come together. Goldfish Crackers (the snack that smiles back!) has partnered with Free The Children (an amazing organization that is doing so much globally!) to help empower and educate Canadian youth on bullying issues.  This is a pretty remarkable idea, and I hope it catches on across Canada!

Take Action Camps are a week-long camp held in Bethany, ON with an anti-bullying focus.  These camps aim to teach youth in Canada how to be leaders in their own communities by educating them about bullying both in schools and online.

“We admire the work that Free The Children does to inspire youth to get involved in their communities and do what they can to lead change,” said Philip Donne, President, Campbell Company of Canada. “We’re proud to support Free The Children’s initiatives to help educate youth. The organization is active in providing them with the tools they need to build safer communities and help prevent bullying.”

Guided by the overlapping themes of prevention and response to bullying, youth learn to identify the elements that make a safe and inclusive environment and their role within it. As students explore their roles as bullying prevention ambassadors, they will apply their skills to develop a sustainable action plan that will help to make a positive cultural change within their school and community. Campers will learn:
– What bullying is
– Where bullying comes from
– How to recognize bullying in its various forms
– How to take action when they see bullying taking place
– Steps to creating safe environments and preventing bullying

One key point at this camp that stands out to me is “how to recognize bullying in its various forms”.  Some forms of bullying are easily recognizable – the image we all have of a student being tormented in the hallway or pushed into a locker, which we all saw in our own after school specials in the 80’s, for example.  However, there are many tactics that a bully uses which may not be instantly recognizable on its onset.  Befriending someone and then using them to do miniscule and then embarrassing things, all in the name of friendship is one way a person can find themselves being bullied without realizing it.  Using manipulation or even blackmail is a form of bullying that is rising due to social media.  I think it’s important to teach youth to recognize what bullying is so it can be stopped early, but also recognizing ways to keep themselves safe by not engaging with people who like to manipulate, embarrass or humiliate others.

For more information and to sign-up, visit www.metowe.com/camp.  Look for limited edition Goldfish crackers on shelves now that aim to help drive awareness of Free The Children’s anti-bullying initiatives.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored (paid) post. All opinions, of course, are my own.