Ulster County Executive Mike Hein Proclaims The Week Of January 16th As No Name-Calling Week In Ulster County

Posted January 17, 2017

The Week Will Feature A Garden Of Kindness Display Created By Area Youth Which Will Hang In The Lobby Of The Ulster County Office Building 

Kingston, NY – County Executive Mike Hein proclaimed the week of January 16thNo Name-Calling Week in Ulster County and was joined by Rob Conlon, Co-Chair GLSEN Hudson Valley; Jeff Rindler, Executive Director, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center; and Heidi Kirschner, Executive Director, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County.  No Name-Calling Week (NNCW) is a national bullying prevention campaign developed by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and is co-sponsored by the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center and the Safe Schools Round Table of the Hudson Valley.   The focus is to “Celebrate Kindness” while working to create safe schools free from name-calling, bullying and bias.  This is the 7th consecutive year that Ulster County is participating in No Name-Calling Week.  To highlight No Name-Calling Week this year, the County Executive developed a bullying prevention resource section on the County website and collaborated with local youth from the YMCA ‘School’s Out’ Program to create a Garden of Kindness consisting of paper flowers that include written various acts of kindness identified by the children.

Michael P. Hein, Ulster County Executive

“There are many different forms of bullying including verbal, physical and digital, and children should not have to worry about whether or not they will be bullied on or off school premises,” said County Executive Mike Hein.  “Unfortunately, bullying continues to be a very real problem which not only affects the students involved but their teachers and families as well.   Statistics show that over 5.7 million children nationwide have experienced some kind of bullying.  It is important for students, parents and teachers to know that they are not alone and that there are resources available in Ulster County which speak to bullying issues.” 

County Executive Hein continued, “I am pleased to once again participate in GLSEN’s No Name-Calling Week in conjunction with the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center and the Safe Schools Round Table of the Hudson Valley. In order to raise awareness and help provide information to the community, we have included a bullying prevention resource section on the County’s website which we hope can be a useful tool for the community and can be viewed at http://ulstercountyny.gov/executive/stop-bullying.  In addition, I want to thank the YMCA and their ‘School’s Out’ Program who partnered with us to create a Garden of Kindness which will hang the lobby of the County Office Building.”

Rob Conlon, Co-Chair, GLSEN Hudson Valley

“GLSEN Hudson Valley believes the core values of kindness, respect, and inclusion are at the heart of all learning.  During No Name-Calling Week schools have a unique opportunity to put kindness into action by engaging students in activities that improve school climate for all students.  Schools don't need to look any further than Ulster County Executive Mike Hein for an example of putting kindness into action.” said Rob Conlon, Co-Chair of GLSEN Hudson Valley.  “His ongoing support of No Name-Calling Week demonstrates that eradicating bullying and harassment in our schools is the responsibility of the whole community and reaffirms that inclusive values are the foundation of healthy learning cultures."

Jeff Rindler, Executive Director, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center

“The Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center is proud to stand with Ulster County Executive Mike Hein in his commitment in recognizing GLSEN’s ‘No Name-Calling Week’ and encouraging students to practice kindness, compassion in their words and actions,” said Jeff Rindler, Executive Director at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center. “This annual anti-bullying event, is even more important and relevant now, at a time when hate speech seems so prevalent in our culture. We all need to stand up to bullying, and protect and teach our children the values of tolerance, inclusion and acceptance.”

Heidi Kirschner, President and CEO, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County

“I am pleased that we were able to have some of our children from our ‘School’s Out’ Program help with the Garden of Kindness for No Name-Calling Week.  The children not only had a fun time creating the flowers but it offered a great opportunity to discuss how to handle bullying,” said Heidi Kirschner, President and CEO, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County.  “I appreciate County Executive Hein’s continued commitment to raising awareness about bullying and his efforts to provide another useful tool for the community by including bullying prevention resources on the County’s website. I urge you to check out the County website as it includes videos and provides important telephone numbers of organizations that want to help.”

According to BullyingStatistics.Org:

  • Bullying can include various types of behavior from physical attacks, to destroying one'spersonal property or clothing, verbal abuse, starting rumors, and name-calling;   
  • One of four children will be bullied sometime throughout their adolescence;
  • About 77 percent of students have admitted to being the victim of one form of bullying oranother;
  • Approximately 56 percent of all students have witnessed a bullying crime take place while at school;
  • About 42 percent of students have been bullied while online;
  • Over 25% of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones orthe internet; and
  • There is a strong connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide, according to a study from the Yale School of Medicine.  Suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of 14 and “bullycide” is a term used to describe suicide as the result of bullying.

Ulster County’s new bullying prevention resource section can be viewed at http://ulstercountyny.gov/executive/stop-bullying.  To learn more about NNCW please visit http://www.glsen.org/nonamecallingweek or http://lgbtqcenter.org/programs-services/dignity-for-all-students/.

Anti- Bullying and Bullying Prevention Resources in Ulster County:

In participation with GLSEN’s NNCW, the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center and the Safe Schools Round Table of the Hudson Valley will also be hosting its Student Creative Expression Exhibit at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library with an opening reception on March 20, 2017 at 6:30 pm.

Pictured below: (From left): County Executive Mike Hein; Jeff Rindler, Executive Director, Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center; Rob Conlon, Co-Chair GLSEN Hudson Valley;  Heidi Kirschner, President & CEO, YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County

 

Document: 
PDF icon NNCW Proclamation.pdf
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