Common Sense Media, Yahoo! Safely, and MTV Stand Up to Cyberbullying Town Hall Event

Marisa Connolly
Published: September 27, 2011

San Francisco – Common Sense Media, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a digital world, today announced it has partnered with Yahoo! Safely and MTV’s “A THIN LINE” campaign to host a live-streamed, interactive town hall to celebrate young people who stand up to cyberbullying. The town hall will take place in the city of Chicago’s Field Museum on Oct. 18 during National Bullying Prevention Month, with The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The McCormick Foundation, and Chicago Public Schools as supporting partners. The interactive town hall is part of a coordinated commitment by Common Sense Media and their partners to provide parents and educators with the tools and information they need to help young people understand the role they play in cyberbullying, and to empower them to stop it.

“Our kids are growing up online, and they make critical decisions about how to navigate this rapidly changing media and technology landscape every day,” said James Steyer, CEO and founder, Common Sense Media. “This town hall collaboration is a remarkable opportunity to have a national, interactive conversation about how to empower kids to take a stand against cyberbullying, by practicing safe, smart, and respectful digital behavior.”

The town hall, which will be streamed live exclusively by Yahoo! Safely will bring teens, parents, and teachers together to celebrate those who stand up and step in when they see bullying happening, and explore the challenges and opportunities of growing up in a public and powerful online world. The event in October will be moderated by MTV News correspondent SuChin Pak and will feature scenes from Beyondmedia Education’s “Your Social Life,” a documentary about Chicago public school teens, parents, and teachers and the impact technology has had on their lives.

“Educating children, parents, educators, and communities about safer online experiences has been a longtime company priority for Yahoo!,” said Megan Cristina, director of trust and safety, Yahoo!. “Streaming the discussion on Yahoo! Safely allows users worldwide the opportunity to participate in the conversation and join us in standing up to cyberbullying.”

“Young people today are constantly connected, unlike any generation before them,” said Jason Rzepka, vice president of public affairs, MTV. “By teaming up with best-in-class organizations like Common Sense Media, we hope to partner with our audience, empowering them to develop a new code of ethics for the digital age.”

The event is part of Common Sense Media’s groundbreaking digital citizenship curriculum, which was developed with significant support from the MacArthur Foundation, and is taught in more than 18,000 schools across the country. In addition to helping kids manage issues such as cyberbullying and online privacy, the digital literacy curriculum covers safety and security, research and information literacy, and empowers students to think critically and make informed choices about how they live and treat others in today’s digital media world.

For more information about the town hall, visit www.commonsense.org/standup, and follow the conversation on Twitter at #standup. For more information about Common Sense Media’s anti-cyberbullying campaign, visit www.commonsense.org/cyberbullying. To watch the town hall live stream, visit safely.yahoo.com/teens/townhall.

Keywords: cyberbullying, event, parents, school