Bernalillo County - Children all over Bernalillo County will have the opportunity to create their own bully-free commercials that will play on airwaves across the state. Support from local business partners, like Qpon ABQ, have launched this program into step two… spreading the word.

October is National Bullying Prevention month and to support bullying awareness, youth across Albuquerque Metro will be invited to create a bully-free public service announcement [PSA]. Starting in mid-August the “Create Your Own Message” campaign will kick-off on New Mexico’s CW, My50 TV, local radio stations, social media, and online resources. Youth will be invited to upload their PSAs for a chance to win a wide variety of prizes and air time.

The deadline for video submission will be Sept. 18. Youth and parents will be invited to a “Video Premier” on September 29 at the Wool Warehouse where the winning PSAs will be viewed and prizes awarded. Then starting October 1, the winning PSAs will air on The CW and My50 TV and KKSS 97.3 and a feature on the winners will be placed in Albuquerque the Magazine.

This movement started in October of 2010 when Bernalillo County Commissioner Art De La Cruz asked the Parks and Recreation Department to create a zero tolerance policy for bullying. Since January, the Bernalillo County started working with the Safe Schools Healthy Students [SSHS] initiative and have jointly developed the Don’t Just Stand there, Stop Bullying Now taskforce of contributing partners who have actively engaged in spreading the anti-bullying message through a series of flash mobs with some garnering as many as 700 students. Look and see all the fun we had on Facebook- “Don’t Just Stand There Stop Bullying Now”. SSHS also established the website www.abqsafeschools.org and created a professionally produced promotional video available for viewing on YouTube. At nearly 2,000 views, the video message is rapidly spreading virally among the youth and parents.

Heading up this PSA contest is the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department. The department has taken a stand against bullying by establishing all of its facilities as bully-free zones, and it now offers a hotline for youth to report bullying by phone or text. That number is 505-933-1113.

For more information about the contest, please visit the link at http://www.newmexicoscw.tv/SectionPage.aspx?navbar=406

To learn more about the bully-free program or to view the past flash mobs, please visit www.bernco.gov/bullyfree or www.facebook.com/dontjuststandthere.