Over 300 schools across Canada are joining Astral Media's Family Channel in a historic event that symbolizes how Canada's children support bullying prevention. Students in schools across the country will literally Stand UP! to participate in one massive wave that will be led on Family Channel and online at family.ca; The Stand UP! Wave will move from west to east, starting after a bullying-prevention themed episode of hit series The Latest Buzz on November 20. The Stand UP! Wave joins a week-long programming lineup devoted to the issue of bullying and a dedicated mini-site with educational resources - all in recognition of this year's Bullying Awareness Week (November 16-22), a cause that Family co-founded eight years ago.
"Educators, students and our research partners at PREVNet tell us time and again that bullying prevention only works when children work together, which is exactly what The Stand UP! Wave is designed to achieve," said Joe Tedesco, Vice President and General Manager, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney. "The response from students and schools has been incredible and we're very excited to stand up together on November 20."
Family Channel put the call out in September for students to sign up their schools to take part in The Stand UP! Wave, and over 300 schools have signed on from all across Canada. Students will follow along with Family Channel stars from the upcoming Vacation With Derek (Nico Archambault, Ashley Leggat and Michael Seater), The Latest Buzz (Zoë Belkin, Munro Chambers, Demetrius Joyette, Justin Kelly and Vanessa Morgan) and Overruled! (Sally Taylor-Isherwood, Jacob Kraemer, Jasmine Richards and Nick Spencer), who will be stationed in schools representing time zones across Canada. All participating schools will see their school's name appear on Family Channel during The Stand UP! Wave broadcast, and also on a Stand UP! Map available at family.ca.
This event represents an excellent opportunity for schools to generate a discussion about the critical issue of bullying prevention, and family.ca has resources available for download for educators and parents, including a Teacher's Guide for The Latest Buzz: The Bullying Issue and a Stand UP! Tip Sheet - both developed by Family's partner PREVNet, a charitable, not-for-profit research organization dedicated to promoting positive relationships and providing children with real-world solutions to prevent bullying.
Throughout Bullying Awareness Week, Family Channel also presents special programming that deals with the issue of bullying.