Thursday, March 10, 2011

NEWS: President Obama Hosts White House Conference on Bullying

President Obama Hosts White House Conference on Bullying
 
by Alex Wagner, White House Correspondent


For a few hours on Thursday morning, President Obama donned the cap of America's "Father-in Chief," hosting the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention. Standing alongside the first lady, the president announced, "If there's one goal of this conference, it's to dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It's not. Bullying can have destructive consequences for our young people."

As evidence, the president recalled victims of bullying who had taken their own lives: "They felt like they had nowhere to turn, as if they had no escape from taunting and bullying that made school something they feared."

Citing the almost 3 million students who have said they were "pushed, shoved, tripped, even spit on," Obama said that bullying was "more likely to affect kids that are seen as different -- whether it's because of the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, the disability they may have, or sexual orientation."

READ MORE: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/03/10/obama-father-in-chief-hosts-white-house-conference-on-bullying/