Last updated on November 24th, 2025 at 06:18 pm

Every October is Bullying Prevention Month, and I couldn’t care less about it. Let me explain why that’s the case. If you’ve read any of my previous articles for Pediatric Safety, you know that I write about cybersafety, which often includes cyberbullying. Certainly, the awareness bullying prevention gets during October is a good thing. Every little bit helps.

It’s very possible that #BullyingPreventionMonth is trending this month or that articles on bullying show up in people’s feed, especially if their past Internet activity has a history of visiting related websites and reading such articles.

But like just about every other cause out there, after the day, week, or month is past, the attention that was generated slips away dramatically. Sadly, unless someone has experienced bullying or knows someone who has, what trends or what shows up in people’s feed will be very different come November first.

If you’re reading this, I’ll assume that you have an interest in stopping bullying. Thank you for that. If so, I ask that you pledge to continue helping all year long. You can do that by taking several easy steps.

Let’s all agree that we don’t want to encourage bullying behavior. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel is quoted as saying,

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

He couldn’t be more right. He’s also quoted as saying that what hurts the most is the silence of the bystanders who watched and did nothing.

The first step is to be an Upstander. That means standing up for people when you see them being attacked, whether they’re online or offline. If you would help a child in the schoolyard being bullied, then do the same thing if you see it online.

The same principle applies to adults as well, online or offline.

Bottom Line

If you want to help prevent bullying all year long, again, I thank you. You can start by finding good sources of information. Nothing stops a bully than being called out for it!

There are dozens of organizations that can be used as good sources of information about how to prevent it and how to handle it if it does happen. For the sake of space and your time, I’ll limit myself to four.

The first is https://www.stopbullying.gov/, a great source of information supplied by the U.S. government. It covers a wide range of helpful information.

Next comes the Owleus Bullying Prevention Program, provided by Clemson University and the program’s founder, Dan Owleus. Dr. Owleus had a lifetime passion for helping those hurt by bullying in all forms.

The third is the Cyberbullying Research Center, a terrific source of information on cyberbullying around the world. I use it myself and have met one of the founders and he clearly has a passion for bullying prevention.

The last source is my own company, Safety Net of PA, LLC. You can follow my company on Facebook, X, and Instagram, where I give daily information that helps everyone use technology wisely and productively, with an emphasis on cyberbullying prevention.

If you want to look for current/trending content on bullying prevention, look for recent posts with #BeAnUpstander, #PositiveSlamming, #BullyingPrevention, #BullyingAwareness, or #BullyingPreventionMonth hashtags. And then continue to be an Upstander all year long!