Shannon Edwards

Dear Bully Shannon Edwards

The following book is a series of letters from elementary, middle school, and high school student's stories of being picked on, harassed, and bullied. We collected these stories over the past several years with the intent to compile our work to share with you. Bullies and victims all suffer and these letters open the door to better understand their stories. With each letter, we were able to find a response to help the child feel heard, understood, and begin the process of forgiveness. The book is filled with stories, responses, strategies, and tools based on the shared stories to help everyone better understand bullying. Children are not born to bully or be mean, it is a learned behavior. It is learned from home, from siblings, from TV and the internet. It is the shows we watch, the people we hang around, the behaviors we model. With our society changing with the influx of technology and less face-to-face interaction, children are struggling to develop positive social responses and coping skills. The letters are part of our program at Bulldog Solution. Bulldog Solution works to run programs to help with emotional intelligence where we are able to target forgiveness and empathy. Our Dear Bully program helps students connect and let go of their painful experience with bullying. Each story has been edited to remove any identifier; however the feelings are real. The pain and trauma that occurs with bullying can rip your heart out and bring you to your knees. These are their stories, these are their experience. This book is meant to open our eyes and hearts to the real problem with bullying. This book is a conversation starter of what needs to be done. This book gives everyone the tools they need to talk about bullying and be more prepared when it happens. This book was made with the intention to bring more awareness to what our children experience.