Awareity and IROC2 Promote Cyberbullying Prevention

A 2010 Cyberbullying Research Center survey in the southern U.S. found that over 20 percent of all kids will be victims of cyberbullying in their lifetime.

LINCOLN, NE, August 04, 2011 -- The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (IROC2) and Awareity are excited to announce a strategic partnership to improve prevention and intervention efforts in schools.

The dangers of cyber bullying are very serious and very expensive and continue to escalate as technology use increases. In 2010, the Cyberbullying Research Center surveyed children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 18 from 37 different schools in the southern U.S. and found that over 20 percent of all kids will be victims of cyberbullying in their lifetime. (http://cyberbullying.us/research.php)

“The long-term effects of cyberbullying can include depression, low self-esteem anxiety, fear, truancy, poor student achievement, violence and suicide,” says Awareity’s CEO/President, Rick Shaw. “It is my passion to work with leaders like Rich Guerry from IROC2 and help school administrators, teachers, parents and communities protect students and prevent tragic incidents from happening.”

In an effort to help construct a global digital community free of negative and sometimes irreversible consequences resulting from poor digital judgment, IROC2 and Awareity have partnered to begin building a unique set of tools and services to improve individual-level situational awareness, responsibility and accountability. You can learn more about the initial launch of this multi-phase alliance by visiting www.tipsprevent.com/IROC2.

Over 80% of kids today have cell phones and over 50% are on Facebook and other social media sites. (http://www.cyberbullying.us/2010_charts/teen_tech_use_2010.jpg) Technology use among youth can be dangerous if children do not understand the consequences of poor digital judgment. It is critical for teens today to understand they are accountable and responsible to practice Digital Consciousness before utilizing any digital device. The Awareity and IROC2 strategic alliance will expand on IROC2’s award-winning workshops by empowering schools to utilize Awareity’s visionary platform to implement IROC2’s guidance along with organization-specific training, policies, procedures, pledges, plans, strategies, roles, responsibilities, etc.

Awareity’s TIPS (Threat Assessment, Incident Management and Prevention Services) platform also empowers teachers, staff, counselors, nurses, students, parents and others to anonymously report incidents anytime they feel threatened or observe suspicious actions. The TIPS platform ensures the appropriate personnel (administrators, counselors, SROs, legal counsel, law enforcement, etc.) are immediately notified to proactively prevent incidents and tragedies.

IROC2 is successfully helping schools and communities prevent digital issues, like sexting and cyberbullying through their award winning and nationally acclaimed live events, awareness campaigns and training to help parents and teachers better understand how to prevent issues, as opposed to rushing to react. But even with information, there will always be individuals that make poor decisions, so what happens when a child actually experiences cyberbullying? Where can they turn? With Awareity’s TIPS, the student, a friend, parents, school staff, etc. can report the bullying incident and ensure appropriate steps are taken to prevent the incident from recurring. Proactive intervention strategies can also be developed and communicated among team members to create a safe learning environment for all students.

“Through this strategic partnership with Awareity, IROC2 is excited to offer our clients and training participants proven tools to help manage bullying prevention and intervention programs ongoing,” says IROC2 President Richard Guerry. “Awareity’s web-based software tools are innovative and needed by schools across the Nation to help students understand their roles as bystanders and why it is so important to step forward and help their classmates stop bullying/cyberbullying behaviors.”

About IROC2:
The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (I.R.O.C.2) is an award winning nonprofit organization dedicated to proactively communicating a vital and uniform message to all members of the global digital community on the importance of 21st Century digital safety, responsibility, and awareness. The organization's creation is based on overwhelming public evidence that many individuals are not aware of the short and long term consequences of their own actions when utilizing our world's rapidly evolving digital technologies irresponsibly. For more information visit www.iroc2.org or contact the Institute at http://www.iroc2.org/5.html.

About Awareity:

Awareity helps leading organizations prevent the preventable and transform the status quo. Awareity is reinventing the way organizations prevent regulatory failures, compliance fines, lawsuits, privacy breaches, safety disconnects, operational challenges, ethical lapses, incident reporting failures, workplace violence and more. Awareity offers an innovative and cost-effective platform to connect the dots, eliminate embarrassing gaps and realize a better bottom line. For more information visit www.awareity.com or contact Awareity at info@awareity.com.

Contact:
Katie Weaver
402.730.0077
info@awareity.com
www.awareity.com