#NoRoomForBullying – Transforming Bullying Into a Positive Experience

On Sunday, August 11, Maria Wen Adcock of Bicultural Mama and I hosted Gracie Barra Long Island’s first #NoRoomForBullying Seminar for media and their children.  This event came to fruition because of the earlier success of the Anti-Bully Seminar Gracie Barra Long Island (GBLI) hosted for a local Girl Scouts Troop; GBLI and I thought having this seminar for social media influencers would be effective in helping to spread the word about the important issue of bullying and empowering our children on how to handle a bully situation.  Professor Joe Scarola, owner and head instructor at GBLI, also shares his thoughts on this issue:  “Through Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu, we aim to turn bullying from a potential lifetime trauma into an opportunity to build a stronger character in your child.”  You can see how his passion for this issue also helped us with the vision for this wonderful event.

One of the main goals of Gracie Barra is to help and support all of the kids from their communities against bullying.  The Gracie Barra system will teach your child principles of respect, team work, a better understanding of who the bullies are, how to react mentally and physically to this situation, and acceptance of everyone’s individualities.  Helping your child to understand the big picture and to know they are not alone can help transform the bullying into a positive experience by bringing families and friends together.

Photo by Vida Lok

#NoRoomForBullying’s purpose was to show our media guests Gracie Barra’s goals and principles in action.  The Gracie Barra system can be summarized as follows:

1) Walk Away and Raise Awareness

2) Stand Up for Yourself

3) Self Defense

Time was spent on all three areas with demonstration from the coaches and then allowing the children to practice the skills newly learned.  I previously posted on this – if you’d like to get a glimpse of these techniques being practiced in real life, please read: Gracie Barra Instructors Teach Anti-Bully Messaging to Girl Scouts.

The event was well attended by local media, including representation from the following blogs:  The Mommy Factor,  The Mama Maven, philZENdia, Petite Brooklyn Mom, Boyz Rule Our World, The Jade Effect, and Thirty Mommy.

Here are some additional recaps from the bloggers who attended:

Petite Brooklyn Mom: No Room For Bullying

Bicultural Mama: Gracie Barra Anti-Bullying Techniques for Kids

Thirty Mommy:  #NoRoomForBullying

Generous sponsors who provided delicious refreshments included The Gourmet Bake Shop, Little Bird Chocolates, Honest Tea, and Funny Face Cranberries.

Photo courtesy of Petite Brooklyn Mom

If you have any questions about this event, please feel free to leave a comment below.  Additionally, we will be looking to expand this event and host additional ones for anyone who has missed it.  If you are interested in having Gracie Barra Long Island host #NoRoomForBullying in your community, please contact me at mommy_lok at yahoo dot com.

For more information about GBLI, please visit their website: http://gblongisland.com/.