New Bullying Prevention Activities On LearntobeHealthy.org Are Helping Reduce Incidents

Online, July 6, 2011 (Newswire.com) - The Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center has added new interactive educational activities to LearntobeHealthy.org to help reduce bullying among students. Created in partnership with JPL, the activities help educators empower students to either Support, Report or Stand-Up in a bullying situation.

The new Premium bullying prevention activities - Step Right Up for 4th-6th graders, and This Has to Stop for 7th-12th graders - empower students with the knowledge and skills to change from complacent bystanders to individuals who can help stop bullying. Both interactive, multimedia activities include lesson plans, worksheets, and supplemental materials to enhance each lesson. The programs are based on the well-known Olweus Bullying Prevention Model.
Step Right Up for 4th-6th graders is an animated activity which takes students on a virtual field trip to the carnival with Hector, "aka Safety Boy." On the bus ride to the carnival, students are presented with a series bullying scenarios that occurred earlier in the school day. Students must choose whether to Support, Report, Stand Up, or do nothing in each scenario. At the end of each scenario, students have the option to play three carnival games which reinforces the lesson objectives.

This Has to Stop for 7th-12th graders is a live-action video where students are faced with three different scenarios in which bullying occurs, a school locker room, cafeteria and hallway. In these three scenarios, students must choose whether to Support, Report, Stand Up, or do nothing in the bullying situations. Each option has a potential consequence that could play out in "real life."The actors used in the piece were local high school students from the Red Lion Area High School theater program.

"We are pleased with the feedback from educators since we rolled out the bullying prevention programs a few months ago. Teachers have shared that the students are engaged and ask appropriate, higher level thinking questions after participating in the eLearning activities," said Humera Proctor, eLearning Project Manager at the Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center. "A few days after watching the program, one teacher said she was pleased to watch a student step in and help another who was being bullied," she added.

A preview of the program can be viewed on LearntobeHealthy's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/LearntobeHealthy

The entire bullying program is available to Premium Members at www.LearntobeHealthy.org. JPL has created hours of interactive learning programs for LearntobeHealthy.org dealing with health related topics such as nutrition, stress and smoking.

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About JPL:
JPL is a strategic integrated communications company based in Harrisburg, PA. The company delivers custom learning solutions for leading organizations including the Hershey Company, Giant Food Stores, Penn State College of Medicine and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In business since 1989, JPL's proven techniques include rapidly developed e-Learning programs, complex simulations, blended learning approaches and more.

About LearntobeHealthy.org
LearntobeHealthy.org launched in 2006 by the Susan P. Byrnes Health Education Center, a
non-profit organization based in York, PA. Designed to help educators and families communicate importance of health concepts for students in grades K-12, the site promotes healthy lifestyle practices through fun, interactive games and activities. The site has more than seven million students from over 170 different countries. The educational website has won numerous awards including USA Today Education Best Bets, the Richard B. Rush Award for Outstanding Innovation, and most recently the 2010 Best of the Web Award in the Arts, Science, and Education Category. The LearntobeHealthy.org website is made possible through funding provided by Highmark Healthy High 5, a children's health promotion initiative of the Highmark Foundation. To learn more, visit www.LearntobeHealthy.org.