NCPC suggests summer reading on bullying and cyberbullying

Tina Wells (Mackenzie Blue), Rachel Simmons (Odd Girl Out), Rosalind Wiseman (Queen Bees & Wannabes), and Deborah Norville (The Power of Respect) are working with NCPC to open up new dialogue.

ARLINGTON, Va., June 4, 2010 -- The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) has a solution for youth worried about bullying issues and for parents who want to plug the "brain drain" their kids encounter during summer vacation.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, young people lose an average of 25% in reading skills each summer.

Today, NCPC shared a summer reading list to help parents combat the summer brain drain and open a dialogue with their kids about bullying and cyberbullying.

Through its Circle of Respect book club, NCPC, home of McGruff the Crime Dog, aims to stop behaviors like bullying before they get out of hand by helping young people learn how to handle conflict through the concept of respect.  Award-winning authors such as Tina Wells (Mackenzie Blue), Rachel Simmons (Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression), Rosalind Wiseman (Queen Bees & Wannabes), and Deborah Norville (The Power of Respect) are among those working with NCPC to open up new dialogue and bring awareness to the issues of bullying and aggression online or in person.

Research shows that 160,000 kids miss school every day out of fear of being bullied. Furthermore, 43 percent of young people are victims of cyberbullying each year -- and only one in ten of them tell their parents. NCPC wants to get ahead of the problem and inspire kids to stop bullying before the conflicts turn into public fights, school shootings, and other violent crimes. The vision of the Circle of Respect is to promote respect as a way to manage conflict and prevent criminal behavior, ultimately creating better communities around all of us.

When first announced last year, the Circle of Respect Book Club started with the new version of "Queen Bees & Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World," by Rosalind Wiseman. This book, as described by Ms. Wiseman, explores

• The different roles girls play in and outside of cliques as Queen Bees, targets, and bystanders, and how this defines how they and others are treated
• Girls' power plays--from the unexplained silent treatment to birthday invitations
• How the experiences of early adolescence impact girls' future relationships and success
• Where boys fit into the equation of girl conflicts and how the "rules" of Boy World are equally constraining
• Checking your baggage—recognizing how your experiences impact the way you parent, and how to be sanely involved in your daughter's difficult, yet common social conflicts

This new version of the book includes a special chapter for parents of younger girls, insights on how technology has impacted Girl World, and is infused with new opinions and experiences of girls, boys and parents.

Other noted authors participating in the Circle of Respect Book Club are Dr. William Pollack, Dr. Michael Thompson, Rachel Simmons, Sharon Flake, Dr. Sameer Hinduja, and Amy Koss.

SOURCE National Crime Prevention Council and Circle of Respect