New Guide for Parents Shines a Light on Bullying

Press Release - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Authors Shine a Light on Bullying in New Guide for Parents

Niagara Falls, ON: Imagine what it must be like to be the parent of a bullied child, to feel helpless after countless calls to the school to complain about the bullying behaviour, only to be told it has been taken care of. Imagine the hours that might be spent seeking out resources in the school or in the community to help a traumatized child recover from repeated incidents of bullying. How do concerned parents ensure that their child will be safe at school, maintain a balanced home life, and navigate the system to secure timely and appropriate support services for their child? Laurie Flasko’s daughter, Amanda was bullied through her final year of elementary school and into high school. The bullying was so severe that Amanda became ill, suicidal, and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. Bullying is Not a Game: A Parents’ Survival Guide details the Flasko family’s journey as they navigated the school, legal, medical, and mental health systems to secure a safe place for Amanda, and to move along the road to recovery.

In Bullying is Not a Game, Laurie Flasko and Julie Christiansen share practical advice and tips for parents on how to “get through and survive” the experience of bullying. Flasko and Christiansen acknowledge that bullying is becoming too much the norm rather than the exception in our schools. They also recognize that with more and more children taking their lives as a result of bullying, that society is at the tipping point, and radical change must take place in order for this trend to be reversed. “We hope that this new book will serve as a practical guide for parents of bullied children, to show them that there is hope, and that recovery is possible. We stress that the parents are their child’s best advocate, and provide a host of resources to help parents navigate the very muddy waters of bullying”.

Bullying is Not a Game is endorsed by Dr. Debra Pepler of York University who wrote the foreword. It also includes submissions from Barbara Coloroso, Niagara Regional Police Services, the District School Board of Niagara, the Distress Centre, the John Howard Society, and several community stakeholders and private practitioners who are concerned about the effects of bullying. The book will be released on May 29th, 2012 at White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa. This event is open to the public.

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Event Details:

Book Launch

Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 7 p.m.

White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa

RSVP: www.angersolution.com or www.laurieflasko.com



For Interviews Contact:

Julie Christiansen
http://www.angersolution.com/
905-329-6169

Laurie Flasko
http://www.laurieflasko.com/
905-357-2345
Backgrounder:

• According to www.bullyingstatistics.org, Bully-related suicide can be connected to any type of bullying, including physical bullying, emotional bullying, cyberbullying, and sexting, or circulating suggestive or nude photos or messages about a person.

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in Canadian youth age 10-24

• Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University

• A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying

• 10 to 14 year old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to the study above

• According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying

• While relational or social bullying is the most severe and causes the most damage, research shows that most teachers without specialized training see relational bullying as the least severe form of bullying, and will most often do nothing to intervene when they see social bullying occurring

• Research demonstrates that “bullying results in ... severe psychological trauma and PTSD symptoms similar to those found in complex PTSD characteristic of battered women and childhood abuse” (www.raminader.com)



About the Authors:

Laurie Flasko - Laurie Flasko is a wife, daughter, sister, friend but her most important accomplishment is mom to a beautiful successful young woman. She is also a professional speaker, coach and trainer. She brings twenty years of experience in the fields of leadership, customer service, and teambuilding. Genuinely committed to the success of others, she inspires her audience to reach for extraordinary. Laurie is a member of Canadian Speakers Association as well as the National Speakers Association. Visit www.laurieflasko.com

Julie Christiansen - An internationally recognized speaker, and published author, Julie Christiansen brings close to 20 years experience in group and individual counseling. Branded as “Oprah for the Office” and “The Anger Lady” by her clients, she has been compared to the likes of Brian Tracy and Jack Canfield. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Counselling Psychology, and teaches Psychology at George Brown College. Julie created the Anger Solutions™ Program, which is now in use in several cities across Canada and internationally. As an expert on anger and stress, Julie is a sought after guest expert for print, television, and radio media. Her passion lies in helping people to create radical, positive, and lasting change through her coaching, training, and corporate programs – all provided by her company, Leverage U. She is the author of several books including Getting Past Your Past (Audio), Anger Solutions, When the Last Straw Falls, and Anger Solutions by the Book. Visit www.angersolution.com or www.juliechristiansen.com.

Write a Book about Anger in 30 Days? Done!

About 33 days ago, I posted on Twitter and Facebook that I intended to write a brand new book in 30 days. My last book project took three years... count 'em... that's 365 days times 3, and we are still awaiting a press date. So I suppose that my insane objective of putting a book together from outline to cover within 30 days was beyond ambitious, and perhaps my way of shaking off the doldrums of a previously drawn out process. By posting my intentions through social media, I had ALL the motivation and accountability one could ask for. And so it began, with the formulation of an outline. After three tries, I had an outline I could work with. Chapters one and two flowed fairly effortlessly out of me, and I had them completed within the first two days (the introduction as well). Chapters three and four followed along at about the same pace, and I marvelled at how easily the ideas were pouring out in a way that was coherent and ordered. Somewhere between chapters five and seven, I realized that I had some notes lurking around from 1998 when I first thought of writing on this topic, but alas when I found them, three or four pages were missing of the 8 page document. So I went on a hunt for my floppy disks and then realized that we no longer have a computer with a floppy disk drive - what to do? My next step was heading off to the computer supply store and purchasing an external floppy drive for my laptop. Armed with this new piece of hardware, I went on a search for my lost files, and found them - on the VERY LAST disk I had to check! Sadly, much of what I thought was missing, I had already written into the new manuscript, but I was glad to find the lost notes all the same. In the middle of this, I got an order for a product that hadn't been created yet, which meant I had to create a brand new workbook and an accompanying manual for Anger Solutions facilitators to use with youth - I worked three days straight on that project, and spent another designing a cover and proofreading/editing, and off that one went to the printers. So having lost four days on my book writing project, I had to get my butt in gear. Also, during this time, I arranged to have a cover designed with my three time designer, Mark Beaudry of Couch Studio (http://www.couchstudio.com/). The clock was ticking, and I had to keep myself in line. I worked on the project whenever I had a spare moment, in between grading students, prepping to teach my new in-class courses, and seeing patients. Soon it was taking shape with only two chapters left to write. This brought me to Day 22. The last two chapters digressed from my outline which had served me well up until that point. While I tried to pull my thoughts together for the closure of the book, I went back to the beginning and did a once through, proofreading, editing, and making changes or expanding on some ideas that seemed a little thin. The final sentence of the last chapter was completed around 1:30 p.m. on February 20th, Day 28. I sent the completed manuscript to a colleague to do one final proofread for me, and sent out letters requesting celebrity endorsements for the book. So here we are at 33 days, and I have just received the final cut of my book cover design, and now it's time for the big reveal.



Yes - I said I would write a book in 30 days, and I did it. I actually can't believe it - but there it is. In all truth, I left off from writing this book for 14 years because I was afraid that I would not be able to do it, and when it came down to it, this was the easiest bit of work I have ever done! I am very proud of it, and will post little excerpts from it in the coming weeks so you can have a taste of the content. The book will be officially unveiled at Faith Tabernacle in Ottawa on the weekend of March 30th, but for now, here's a look at the cover.

Anger Solutions By the Book: Biblical Principles for Resolving Anger will soon be available through my website, www.angersolution.com, as well as through Facebook (once I figure out how to do that!) :).

To everyone who cheered me on and gave me your support, thanks very much!

Anger Management Gone Wrong in Florida

So here's what came across the Anger Solutions news desk this morning, and I had to share... anger management only gets a small honorable mention in this story; however, it is notable to see that the events of this story played out immediately following an anger management class. To be fair, people who go to anger management classes with no intention to learn or change, will do neither. They will only get their certificate to prove to the judge that they attended and that seems to be enough.

Sadly, for the victim of this crime, the perpetrator's attendance to anger management was not enough in this case. Here's the story - the original version of which can be found at this link: http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/012412fowler
Fowler gets 30 years
Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
LEESBURG
MILLARD K. IVES Staff Writer
millardives@dailycommercial.com
A man who killed his friend in anger, less than a day after leaving an anger management class, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Jimmie Nathan Fowler, 29, apparently believed his estranged wife, Ruth Brown, was cheating with his friend, Willi Culpepper, when he shot him to death last year in Fowler's Montclaire Road home in Leesburg, according to Lake County sheriff's officials and prosecutors.
"He just wouldn't believe there wasn't anything going on between them," prosecutor Bill Gross said of Fowler.
A plea deal made this month calls for Fowler to serve at least 29 years of the sentence. He could have received life if convicted in a jury trial.
Fowler allegedly told his estranged wife afterwards that he had shot someone. He also told deputies where they could find the murder weapon.
According to Gross, the shooting occurred the early morning of June 19, 2011, apparently after Fowler, Culpepper and the latter's "almost" fiancee, Marry Kollydas, and others spent the wee hours of the morning drinking and doing drugs at Fowler's home.
Gross said Fowler was convinced that his wife, who had just moved out their home, and Culpepper were sleeping together, "maybe because they were seen at a bar at the same time."
Culpepper and Kollydas went to Fowler's home on June 18 in an attempt to convince Fowler he wasn't cheating with his estranged wife.
Gross added Fowler had just got home from an anger management meeting.
Culpepper thought he had convinced Fowler there was nothing going on between him and Brown, and even invited him to his home for dinner.
Afterward, the three went back to Fowler's home with at least one other person where a night of partying spilled into the next morning.
Gross said Culpepper was about to leave the home shortly before 6 a.m. when Fowler pulled out a .357-caliber handgun
According to an arrest affidavit, Kollydas told deputies that Fowler, went to a bedroom, grabbed a handgun out of a black bag under the bed, came back to the living room, and shot Culpepper in the arm and abdomen.
"Are you kidding me?" Culpepper allegedly said.
When Culpepper asked Fowler why he shot him, he responded, "Because you've been (messing) with my girl."
Fowler fled before being captured by deputies, the affidavit added. Culpepper was later pronounced dead at Leesburg Regional Medical Center.
Want to know about a viable alternative to anger management classes? Visit www.angersolution.com