Events
PostSecret and AVAM unite for Anti-Bullying Program
An evening for compassionate and truthful dialogue about the dark underbelly of storytelling–featuring personal experience of storytelling–lies, hurtful speech, bullying, and being bullied.
Join Frank Warren, Jan Houbolt at AVAM for a discussion about bullying
- When: Thursday, January 17, 2013
- What Time: 6:30pm
- Where: Jim Rouse Visionary Center, 3rd floor
- Cost: Free. Must RSVP to Abby at abby@avam.org or
call 410-244-1900 x247 - Note: Discussion focused for adults, but Children and Teens over 12 welcome
Like all the great super powers—religion, government, media, sex and money—storytelling, neither intrinsically good nor evil, has its dark underbelly. How we speak to, and of, one another affects us deeply. Let us gather to better understand the essence of bullying and why we bully, and how we transcend and heal that experience. Each day in America, more than 160,000 children miss school due to bullying. This newest twentieth-century crop of bullies has made other children captives of their own Internet-tied existence. Furthermore, current estimates state that teen suicide has increased a horrific 400% in just the past 30 years.
Join us on Thursday, January 17 for a dialogue about bullying in our culture. Hear personal stories from PostSecret's Frank Warren and Jan Houbolt, Executive Director of Baltimore's The Leadership, and how they've overcome their traumas. Attendees will have an opportunity to share their own personal bullying experiences, both as the bully and bullied, in an unique 6-word format.
REGISTRATION:
RSVP to Abby at abby@avam.org or 410-244-1900 x247. Limited seating. Attendees are welcome to explore AVAM's THE ART OF STORYTELLING exhibition in our main building, which features bullying PostSecrets, before the anti-bullying program, but you must RSVP to receive free admission after 5pm. Building closes at 6:30pm.
Featured Speakers:
Jan Houbolt
Jan Houbolt is Executive Director of The Leadership (Greater Baltimore Committee). He has been there since 1989. Previous to that he was Executive Director of the Maryland Food Committee, a statewide anti-hunger organization. He presently serves on the Boards of the, The Mario Do Right Foundation, The Center Club Membership Committee, Over Coming Poverty Together and the Coppin State Board of Visitors. He also serves as a free trainer for the Alternatives to Violence Program in Maryland's State Penitentiary. He has a B.A in Sociology from Howard University and a Ph.D. in Sociology/Organizational Behavior from American University
Frank Warren
Frank Warren is a small-business owner who started PostSecret.com as a community art project. Since November 2004, Warren has received more than 500,000 anonymous postcards. The website won two Webby Awards in 2006 and this year was named Weblog of the Year at the Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. The PostSecret project also received a special award from the National Mental Health Association for raising awareness and funds for suicide prevention. Warren lives in Germantown, Maryland, with his wife and daughter.