Childrens' Defense Fund

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me; I managed to start a charitable scholarship for kids being bullied or victimized by social aggression. Social aggression can take many forms, it could be constant harassment, teasing, or practical jokes, isolation by peers, physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. These forms all hurt and are destructive to kids' well-being. If aggression and bullying like this goes on unchecked, without support for the victims, the results can be devastating. Children abused at the hands of peers or others in this manner can begin to feel that they're worthless, hopeless, and trapped in a miserable situation which can lead to drastic, desperate, and tragic acts. Often these acts include violence upon peers, perceived aggressors, or upon themselves, (as was the case for David Q. Pham in November 2012).

The solution is not in changing the bullies' behavior, (this is but a symptom of the problem),  but by targeting the base issue, inner confidence and self-worth of these kids. If we address the problem of confidence and self-image of these kids, helping them like themselves and be happy in their own skin we stop the motivation for the behaviors found in both the aggressor and the victim. I founded a charitable scholarship aimed at ending the cycle of abuse, retaliation, and violence resulting from bullying. Contributions tot he fund go directly to underwriting self-defense instruction and purchase of equipment for kids known to be victimized by social aggression.

Please look at the campaign site and learn about what we're doing. Tell your friends about it, get involved. While monetary contributions to the fund pay for training, activities, and equipment, help in other ways is needed too. Tell the schools in your area about what we are doing; the more kids we sign up, the more support we are able to build. If you know of a self-defense school in your area that might be a good partner for the scholarship, pass this info along to them; we'd like to stretch our network as far and wide as possible to save our kids. 

We have a goal for the month of December to raise $500 to cover initial costs for starting the scholarship fund and establishing a web presence. We have 15% of that raised already but I need to maintain momentum. Please share this with your friends as contribute as you can. Thanks!

To contribute: The Childrens' Defense Fund

To apply for a scholarship: CharitySmith Charitable Scholarships

Connect via Facebook: Childrens' Defense Page