Can Love Be the Answer to Bullying and School Violence?

    APPLETON, WI, July 31, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Popular school assemblies' speaker and author, Bob Lenz, says the most effective way to deal with the issue of bullying is to treat the bully as you would the victim - with compassion and care. In the new book, Dignity Revolution: Standing Up For the Value of Every Person, Lenz and co-author Deborah Tackmann offer the case for treating the bully with as much dignity as the victim.

"First, we start by taking away the affects of the bully by empowering their victims," says Lenz, who has hosted over 3000 school assemblies and spoken to over four million students in his career. "We also make sure each student knows that they do not deserve to be picked on or ridiculed. If a bully cannot get the reaction they want, that shuts them down. Second, we need to love the bullies too. Many anti-bullying programs suggest holding the bully accountable, but fail to address the underlying issues spawning the negative behavior. Teachers, counselors and youth leaders need to offer the bully a safe place to confide about his or her own life. They are acting out for some reason, and it should be part of any school's plan to try to counsel those that are causing harm."

Lenz is partnering with Lifetouch, the world's largest employee-owned photography company, to supply the Dignity Revolution book to 6000 middle schools around the nation. A website has also been established where students can rally around a dignity revolution pledge in order to create an environment of positive reinforcement and peer support in their individual schools.

So does Lenz believe that the bullies should not be punished?

"The ultimate role of love is to be strength under control and to serve someone else," says Lenz. "That means caring for someone enough to report them to the appropriate authorities. And bullies need to feel and experience consequences in order to change. You do not truly love someone if you condone or enable their bad behavior."

For more information on Dignity Revolution, visit www.DignityRevolutionPledge.com or www.LifePromotions.com.

Lenz is President and founder of Life Promotions, a non-profit organization that also birthed the annual Lifest event which hosts over 20,000 people for a time of music and teaching in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Lenz has worked with numerous national organizations including MADD, Boys and Girls Clubs, National Student Council, Beta Clubs, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, NFL Chaplains, among many others. Co-author, Deborah Tackmann, B.S., M.E.P.D., was selected as one of the top teachers in the nation by USA Today, was awarded National Education Professional of the Year by ASHA and AAHE, and is a Disney Teacher Award recipient.

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