As summer vacation rounds the half-way mark, and you and your family start thinking about the new school year, I too am preparing for back to school. Though I’m no longer a student, every fall I travel across the country speaking in schools, sharing my story in an effort to motivate change.

I have a day-long anti-bullying program for schools called It’s NOT Just Joking Around!™ that includes student presentations, a teacher workshop, and an evening parent/family seminar. The evening seminar is open to the public, and I always enjoy meeting everyone and hearing about what they’ve been through and being able to offer support and advice. Interestingly, it’s not only parents and students who attend these events. I also get a lot of Adult Survivors of Peer Abuse, people who were bullied when they were young like me and are still haunted by those wounds, who seek insights from a kindred spirit. These evening events are more than me talking, they’re about camaraderie and friendship, and providing schools an opportunity to show the community they take bullying seriously and they’re proactively addressing the issue.

Whether you’re the parent of a bullied child, or perhaps you’re concerned that your child is a bully, if I’m in your neighborhood this fall, I’d love to meet you in person. One of the benefits of being a touring author/speaker is that I’m blessed with the opportunity to spend time with parents like you who are engaged in their children’s well-being and always looking for new ways to better protect and provide for them in this complex world.

Perhaps you’re an Adult Survivor of Peer Abuse who wonders if your own past sometimes gets in the way of how you’re dealing with your child’s issues at school. No matter what your story, I hope you will share it with me.

For more information about my tour dates and if I’ll be speaking in a town near you, please visit my website jodeeblanco.com.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and I hope to see you soon!