Happy to Be Me: An Anti-bullying Discussion 5: Final Thoughts

[MUSIC PLAYING] ROSEMARIE TRUGLIO: I want to take this time to thank all of you for helping us discuss these really important issues with parents and teachers and caregivers because adults really need to do their part to stop bullying now. If you could give us just one final key message so that parents and teachers and caregivers could have a better understanding of what they can do to empower their children so that we can combat this bullying crisis. JAMIE OSTROV: I think education is really crucial, education for adults, in particular. Parents and teachers and members of the community need to better recognize what bullying behaviors are and the various ways in which bullying can be displayed among young children. If we can recognize what bullying is, then we can effectively stop it and prevent it. MIA DOCES: Well, I think that it's very important to underscore that starting early, when we're talking about prevention, starting early is very important so that we have an opportunity to help children learn pro-social skills. And they learn that those positive skills can actually get them the things that they need. CATHERINE BRADSHAW: What's of great concern is sometimes kids that are witnessing bullying start to feel anxiety or concern that they might be targeted next, potentially even guilt that they didn't intervene or they didn't do the right things. So what we want to do is talk to children about different roles that they play in this. JOSEPH L. WRIGHT: Well, I think that parents really should take advantage of all the tools around them, to really begin to help themselves become better interventionists on behalf of their children. And pediatricians and child health professionals, who care for their kids, are an important part of that armamentarium. And I would just encourage parents to use their pediatricians as part of the solution and lean on them. TRUDY LUDWIG: We, adults, are really wonderful at giving advice. But sometimes, you forget to check in with the children to find out if our advice is actually working. And so we need to ask questions to make sure that the bullying isn't continuing. And if our advice is not working, we need to come up with more effective strategies to help these kids. ROSEMARIE TRUGLIO: Thanks, again, to all of my panelists. You've been wonderful and, I think, very informative and very helpful to parents, teachers, and caregivers. And I want to give a special thanks to Big Bird for sharing your story with us today. JAY: Yeah, Big Bird! ROSITA: Yes, Big Bird. BIG BIRD: Thank you. ROSEMARIE TRUGLIO: And Jay and Rosita. ROSITA: Gracias. ROSEMARIE TRUGLIO: You have all been very helpful. I know children are going to be watching and learning so much from this story. JAY: Hey, who wants to be part of the Happy to Be Me Club? ALL: I do! JAY: Yay! [LAUGHTER] JAY: Yeah. ROSEMARIE TRUGLIO: Thank you for watching the discussion today. And remember to tune into Sesame Street every day on PBS Kids. And for more information, go to www.sesamestreet.org/bullying. [MUSIC PLAYING]