Delaware County Council has declared October as Bullying Prevention Month in Delaware County, calling to action teachers, parents, students, and everyone in the community to promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.

Council invited youth who face challenges involving bullying, mental health, or substance abuse to join the youth empowerment group MY LIFE.

“Every day, children and young people are being bullied in schools, on buses, and over their cell phones,” said Councilman Dave White. “As a parent, this issue hits home. It’s not acceptable for any child in the classroom, on the playground, or online to feel afraid, to be abused or bullied.”

This month is national Bullying Prevention Month, White said. The nationwide campaign to fight bullying started 10 years ago by PACER’s, a national bullying prevention center. It stresses that bullying is not a rite of passage or a normal part of childhood. It estimates that nearly one-third of school-aged children are bullied each year.

Research shows that victims of bullying are more likely to acquire physical, emotional, and mental health problems that can last a lifetime. In addition, children who bully are at a greater risk of engaging in more serious violent behaviors.

“Today, we join the campaign to stop bullying,” White said. “Our Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health, works with many community partners to raise awareness. One group that stands out is MY LIFE, which stands for Magellan Youth Leaders Inspiring Future Empowerment.”

As national organization, MY LIFE members are young people, ages 13 to 23, who have experience with a mental health, substance abuse, or foster care-related issue. Or perhaps they have a friend or family member experiencing those issues.

In Delaware County, MY LIFE meets the second Tuesday of each month at the Community YMCA of Eastern Delaware County in Lansdowne. The members come together to make friends, find support, build confidence, and learn leadership skills. The goal is for the young people who have faced their own challenges to use their experiences to help others and improve the various systems that serve young people.

MY LIFE will hold an anti-bullying event at 6 PM on Oct. 11 at the YMCA. It will be handing out educational and supportive materials, including buttons that say “Together Against Bullying.”

“We commend the MY LIFE members for this civic activity and we welcome them to today’s meeting,” White said.

Council presented a resolution for Bullying Prevention Month to Shannon Fitzpatrick Thomas, Jeanne Ewing, and Christina Gordon from the county Office of Behavioral Health; Shawn Carroll, Certified Peer Specialist with Magellan Behavioral Health; and Daniel Taber, a founding member of Delaware County MY LIFE.