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Editor's note: Our guest blogger today is Charles J. "Chuck" Saylors. He is president of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), an LFA member.

As the parent of four, with two sons still in middle school, I have seen firsthand how bullying can hurt our students. For my wife, Teresa, and I this issue started with our youngest experiencing illness at home and school every day. He would wake up each day physically ill, not wanting to go to school, this coming from a child who was rarely ill and loved school. We started digging down and discovered that both of our sons had experienced being bullied.

Bullying has led to so many tragedies. We have seen news accounts where students have taken their own lives because they were bullied by others. Bullying causes so many issues; bad grades, health issues, self esteem issues; all harmful and negative for our children.

PTA members, parents and caregivers must get engaged in this conversation. We must help our children understand why these actions are wrong. We must help teachers and school administrators know that we will support their efforts in the school to combat issue. This is not a “kids will be kids” issue, this is serious! Kids are hurting kids and it must stop.

That’s why we’re proud to announce the launch of a new bullying prevention campaign, called Connect for Respect. PTAs everywhere have supported bullying prevention for years and today, with this campaign, we are reaffirming our commitment to the cause.

We announced the launch of this initiative in a news release, as well as during our participation in the recent White House Conference on Bullying Prevention. It is our hope that PTAs across the country will get involved in raising awareness about this important issue with the parents, children and families they serve.

Through this initiative, PTAs can get involved by:
1. Hosting a Connect for Respect event in their communities and sharing resources with parents about bullying.
2. Encouraging parents to talk to their child about bullying and to advocate for policies and practices that will create a safe school climate for all children.
3. Providing resources for parents and PTAs to get involved. PTA has created five tip sheets to increase parents’ understanding of bullying, how to prevent it, and how to recognize if your child is the bully. PTA has also created some “how to” materials to support our PTAs in planning their own Connect for Respect event.

Please join us in this effort and don’t wait until this happens to your family. Visit www.PTA.org/bullying to help put a stop to bullying!

Originally posted on One Voice, the official blog of the National PTA. Reposted with permission.