If you’re reading this, you already know three things:

• Children are being traumatized by bullying. It causes depression and anxiety, decreases academic achievement and can result in kids taking their own lives and the lives of others (http://1.usa.gov/L0kLbh)
• Despite national attention and effort, bullying is still an epidemic. It is keeping 160,000 kids home from school every year and putting more than 90,000 kids a year in the emergency room (http://nbcnews.to/1kxcvQt)
• Our kids deserve better

My name is Gilbert Brown and I'm a former NFL player and Super Bowl XXXI champion (Green Bay Packers: 1993-99, 2001-03). I'm also a bullying victim and my mental scars from that have lasted longer than any physical injury I had on the football field.

Yes, even I was bullied as a kid and it breaks my heart that kids aren’t getting better help than the same tired old advice (that doesn't work) like “ignore it,” “walk away,” "brush it off," “tell the teacher” and “fight back."

Despite bullying awareness campaigns and efforts to stop it, children are bullied every day and it's destroying their self-esteem and, in some cases, their lives.

We need a different approach

We need to stop making the excuse that “kids will be kids.” For our children this is an issue of life or death.

To really fix this problem, parents, teachers, youth leaders and kids need to work off the same playbook to counteract bullying. Do you know what play to call when a child is ignored at school? When their body type is insulted? When their sexuality is questioned online?

What's needed are practical strategies to “bully-proof” our kids and empower bystanders to intervene.

That’s why I’ve teamed up with the Vistelar Group, a global conflict training organization with over 30 years of experience.

In 2009, the Vistelar Group developed an anti-bullying program for children that has been taught in person to tens of thousands of kids in over 150 schools.

The success of this live training program has been incredible.

Our goal now is to get this training into the hands of as many parents, teachers, youth leaders and kids as possible by developing a digital, self-study version.

But we’ve learned that breaking through the anti-bullying clutter is tough.

That’s where you come in.

We need your help to take what we’ve learned over the last four years and ...

... develop a digital version of our anti-bullying training so ALL parents, youth leaders, teachers and kids are ABLE TO counteract bullying

This program will NOT just offer data to show the significance of the problem. Nor will it take the commonplace approach of giving advice on WHAT to do (e.g., “tell a teacher,” “intervene,” “be respectful”) without training on HOW to do it.

To win the Super Bowl, the Packers had to perform on the field. To counteract bullying that same level of HOW-TO training is needed.

That's why this digital version of our live training program will provide specific and practical HOW-TO training on methods that have been proven to work with tens of thousands of kids over the last four years.

For parents -- HOW TO:

• Build your child’s personal power so he/she isn’t unknowingly projecting themselves as a target for bullying
• Practice with your child the proven methods for deflecting abuse (without escalating the situation)
• Respond safely and effectively when witnessing bullying
• Advocate for a healthy social environment within a child’s school
• Represent your bullied child with school administration
• Identify the signs of bullying
• Support your child after a bullying incident

For teachers and youth leaders -- HOW TO:

• Manage a classroom to discourage bullying
• Respond safely and effectively when witnessing bullying
• Mobilize others to intervene in bullying incidents
• Identify changing behaviors that may be caused by bullying
• Talk with parents about bullying-related incidents
• Conduct effective assertiveness training to help “bully-proof” students
• Create a culture within your school and classroom of dignity and respect

For kids -- HOW TO:

• Assess and avoid risky situations
• Develop personal power that creates an impenetrable shield from bullies
• Respond to abuse in a way that will cause it to stop
• Respond safely and effectively when seeing others being bullied
• Mobilize others to intervene in bullying incidents
• Maintain your personal space if confronted by a bully
• Make friends by treating people right
• Tell a parent or teacher about a bullying incident in a way that will get action

Our Specific Plans

We’ve been teaching our HOW-TO conflict management strategies for over 30 years to public safety agencies, corporations, schools and hospitals and, since 2009, we’ve tailored these strategies for our youth anti-bullying program.

Therefore, the content for this project is finished.

Now we need to develop a curriculum optimized for a digital self-study program, produce the product and publish it in both an online and DVD format.

The team developing this product will include Gilbert Brown and several senior consultants from the Vistelar Group who specialize in working with kids and schools.

The funds will be spent on curriculum development, video/audio recording and editing, workbook writing, converting the content into an online/DVD program, producing the final product and delivering on the rewards.

Again, our goal is to develop the definitive training program for parents, teachers, youth leaders and kids on HOW TO counteract youth bullying.

In the time it took you to read this, yet another child has been devastated by the impact of bullying. This child deserves better, as do the millions of other kids that are bullied every single day.

Will you help us in our efforts to keep our children safe?

There is an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. We hope you’ll be part of our village and pitch in to help our kids (and get some awesome rewards, if you do).

NOTE: the reward for each pledge amount ONLY includes the reward described under the pledge. In other words, the rewards do NOT stack where, for a given pledge amount, you receive everything listed at lower pledge amounts.

Therefore, if you would like to receive more than one reward, you should make a pledge for each reward that you want.