Koko and Friends Foundation

The objective of the Koko and Friends Anti-bullying Program is to reduce instances of bullying and harassment among students. They will be able to identify bullying and recall ways to prevent it. The Koko and Friends Anti-bullying Program gives ownership of the problem to the students – victims, bystanders, and bullies. Victims realize that they are not alone in dealing with bullying and that being bullied is NOT their fault.Victims and bystanders learn how to use positive peer pressure to reduce the risk of bullies exhibiting unacceptable behavior. Bullies are taught that their behavior will not be tolerated by their peers – victims and bystanders. All students will learn that they CAN change their environment so that it is safe for and accepting of all students. Our goal is to get all students to work together to create a culture that is bully-free.

(Middle and High Schools)

Our middle and high school program encourages students to take responsibility for the culture of their schools. Empathy and compassion are taught using cooperative learning strategies and role playing activities. Students learn how bullying affects all stakeholders: bullies, victims, and bystanders.

At the conclusion of the program the students sign the " Pledge Up!" agreement to take a stand against bullying,gossip,and violence in their school.

Our early elementary school program teaches the importance of accepting differences by introduction of the Golden Rule, "Treat others the way you want to be treated."

The Koko and friends characters are used to illustrate ways to handle bullying situations and show younger children how to behave with courtesy,dignity and respect.

Our elementary school program stresses the importance of empathy and compassion by encouraging students to take a active stand against bullying.

Students are given different scenarios that teach them how to respond to different bullying situations. The Golden Rule is applied by showing youth how to "put yourself in someone else's shoes."

Emotional — being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. taunting, threatening)

Physical — pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence

Racist — racial taunts, graffiti, gestures

Sexual — unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments

Homophobic — because of, or focusing on issues of sexual orientation

Verbal — name-calling, mocking, spreading rumors, teasing

Cyber — all areas of internet, such as email and internet chat room misuse

Mobile Phone — threats by text messaging and calls

Technological — misuse of cameras, camera phones, video facilities, etc.

Our mission is founded on a fundamental commitment to the rights of every student to an education in an environment that is nurturing, inclusive, and safe. To this end, we have launched a movement to end all forms of bullying and peer-on-peer violence that has reached epidemic proportions in every community across our nation.

We believe that:

Every child, as a human being, has the Constitutional right to an education in an environment of respect, inclusion, and where their voices will be heard.
Every teacher, administrator, and staff member has a right to work in an environment that is safe from all forms of violence and the threat of violence in the pursuit of the professions and livelihood.
Every community has a fundamental obligation to ensure that their schools are free from all forms of violence and terrorism.
School campuses should be safe havens for educational pursuits and standards of fairness and justice are equally applied to all stakeholders.