Three Anchorage teens will be in North Carolina in October to present at the World Anti-Bullying Forum as part of the non-partisan organization Youth Vote. The teens have developed their own presentation on how youth empowerment can prevent bullying.
Edison Wallace Moyer, a junior at West Anchorage High School who will be presenting, said youth have unique insight on this issue.
“Youth have a better understanding of bullying, just by virtue of they’re the ones being bullied,” said Moyer. “We’re the ones that are seeing the behavior; we’re the ones that are experiencing it.”
Madison, whose family prefers her last name not be used, is a high school sophomore in Anchorage. She helped develop the curriculum and said bullying looks different for their generation because there’s much more online or cyber bullying.
And Madison said she’s proud that Youth Vote has been the only youth-led organization presenting at this conference in past years.
“I thought that was something that was really cool and empowering,” said Madison. “I think a lot of kids don’t really get that empowerment in themselves to know that they have the ability to be able to speak out.”
This year, organizers of the World Anti-Bullying Forum said they’re prioritizing youth voices. The conference includes adults working in fields relevant to youth, like educators, legislators, and social workers. The last time it was held people from 40 different countries attended.
Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her atrcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.
