The Ophelia Project is a non-profit, volunteer organization located in Pennsylvania. This project provides education and intervention programs that address problems that teens today are facing in schools, home or at other teen functions. Some goals for the project include: creating multiple levels of mentoring relationships between adults and young people, fostering dialogue with young people so we can hear their voices and advocate for their needs, and collaborating with schools in creating a safe social climate for all children.

At Wheeler Middle School, we are focusing on creating an anti-bullying program that will focus on the following concepts: relational aggression and Creating a Safe Social Climate (CASS). To complete these tasks, we will create a student task force and a parent task force. The student task force will meet once a week, during school hours to discuss issues that teens in our building are facing. The students will come up with solutions to these problems and provide leadership for our school. The parent task force will provide educational materials for parents about relational aggression that can be used to help raise their children. The group will also focus on assisting parents in the process of acknowledging challenges our children face today, recognizing aggression, and discussing healthy decision making relative to peer aggression. The parent task force will meet once a month to discuss these issues as well as session goals, books or other research related to teen aggression, various discussion topics/questions, and suggestions or encouragement for discussing/dealing with relational aggression in your child’s life.

We are proud to be the second school in Indiana to adopt this program. This program is “dedicated to creating a culture that is emotionally, physically, and socially safe, where children are respected and nurtured” (Ophelia Project-All the RAGE 3).

Web Resources on Bullying for Parents, Teachers, School Administrators

www.uncg.edu/edu/ericcass/bullying/DOCS/tableoc.htm
This U.S.-based site provides a list of links to resources on bullying for various audiences (e.g., parents, teachers, children). This site is highly recommended!

www.therapeuticresources.com/antibullying.html
List of resources for teachers and schools dealing with the problems of bullying and gangs.

www.bullybeware.com
This is a UK site that provides information about bullying. Visitors to the site can order materials (books, videos) designed to help teachers implement programs combating bullying in schools.

www.education.unisa.edu.au/bullying/
Dr. Ken Rigby, an Australian developmental psychologist who studies bullying, manages this site. The site offers practical information for teachers and other adults, as well as links to additional bullying resources.

www.bbc.co.uk/education/bully/deal.htm
A site managed by BBC, the British Broadcasting Channel, dedicated to providing resources for persons interested in the issue of bullying. This site provides helpful tips for children, parents and other adults who work with children.

www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/home/resource/famvinc.htm
The Effects of Media Violence on Children. Does violence increase children's tolerance of real-life aggression?

www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/
Children Now: Fair Play? Study analyzing the role of violence, gender and race in video games.

www.bullying.com
A collection of stories, resources, and services on bullying from Canada.

www.edap.org
The National Eating Disorders Association site is filled with resources on eating disorders.

www.empowerprogram.org
This organization's mission is to work with youth to end the culture of violence and involves students, educators, and parents.

www.girlsinc.org
An informative site on a host of topics, programs and fabulous resources.

www.girlpower.gov
An interactive site for teens as well as their parents that includes adolescent-friendly topics and news.

www.go-girl.com
A 'cool-stuff' site for teens with many college sponsors.

www.gURL.com
An interactive site full of information with fabulous graphics offering girls the opportunity to get advice, give their opinions and find out what's new on a wide range of topics.

www.family.samhsa.gov
A brand new public education site developed to support the efforts of parents and other caring adults to promote mental health and prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs among 7- to 18-year-olds.

www.kidshealth.org
A great informational site that is extremely interactive, with scrolling visuals and audio. It includes answers and advice on health issues from acne to dieting to strength training and focuses on the mind as well as the body. This comprehensive site is also in Spanish.

www.newmoon.org
A resource for girls between the ages of 8-14, who want their voices heard and their dreams taken seriously and for every adult who cares about girls.

www.powerofhope.org
Power Of Hope is a non-profit organization in Bellingham, WA, founded in 1996 which empowers youth ages 14-18 to discover their creative potential. They use an intergenerational model that brings together multicultural community of youth and adults and offer training programs for adults who work with kids.

www.smartgirl.com
An extremely well organized site, with content contributed by teens who visit the site. Find out how others feel about the latest movies, music, TV shows, games, beauty and make-up, books, and much more.

www.teachingtolerance.org
Teaching Tolerance serves as a clearinghouse of information about anti-bias programs and activities being implemented in schools across the country. It also produces and distributes free, high-quality anti-bias materials and publishes a magazine called Teaching Tolerance.

www.smith.edu/ourhealthourfutures
This website grew out of a book project by and for teens. It is an extremely informative site, which is mainly written by girls. It is dedicated to exploring issues which affect adolescents - anything from peer pressure to personal decisions about readiness for sexuality. There are personal stories and resources for health issues ranging from substance abuse to eating disorders to emotional health.