Right around back-to-school, several tragic stories began to appear in the media about bullying. Around the same time, popular Ottawa radio morning show host, Stu Schwartz (known affectionately by his on-air name: @stuntmanstu) began to speak-out about the issue.
He did what most people do nowadays: he took his cause to the internet. As someone who faced bullying as a kid, and with the encouragement of his wife, he wrote the hashtag #NoMoreBullies on the palm of his hand, took a photo of it, and posted it on Twitter. It spread like wildfire through the Twitter-sphere, with others also writing the hashtag on their hands and posting a photo as a sign of solidarity with Stu’s cause.
Stu also tweeted something else: “if he had to visit every school in Ottawa to speak out against bullying he would.” He has kept his promise. This week marks Bullying Awareness Week, and on Tuesday, he spoke to 400 kids at a local high school. With him were his morning show co-hosts Angie Poirier and Trish Owens, and several other speakers including an expert from the Canadian Red Cross’ Violence and Abuse Prevention program who told the kids how they can stop bullying if they see it happening. Stu is planning on speaking to more schools in the future and the Red Cross will continue to provide support.
Take a moment and watch the powerful PSA created for the #NoMoreBullies campaign above. You can also check out the campaign on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/majic100nomorebullies. You can find more info about bullying, and prevention tips, here.
Thank you for your great work, Stu!