January 22nd- 26th, 2007
http://www.NoNameCallingWeek.org

COLAGE has joined together with GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing in collaboration with nearly 50 education, mental
health, youth advocacy and social justice organizations to address the problem of name-calling and verbal bullying in U.S. schools. During the week of January 22 - 26, 2007, schools serving grades five through eight across the nation will be asked to take part in a week of educational activities aimed at stopping name-calling and creating safer and more affirming schools for all students.

Students with LGBT parents often share with COLAGE their experiences with name-calling and hearing homophobic slurs in the hallways of their schools. COLAGE hopes that this week of action will continue to develop safer schools for all students, including those with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender parent/s.

No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled The Misfits by popular author James Howe. The novel tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and runs on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. Though they lose the election, they win the support of the school’s principal for their cause and their idea for a “No Name Day� at school.

Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, schools across the nation will again organize No Name-Calling Week during January 22–26, 2007. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling and bullying in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities. The project is targeted at grades five through eight—years when the problem of name-calling is particularly acute—but the concept can be easily adapted by students and educators at other grade levels.

We hope that you will join us in our efforts to end name-calling in our schools. Visit www.NoNameCallingWeek.org to register your school, download and order educational materials and find our more about this exciting project. Additionally, COLAGE offers
several excellent educational tools that can assist your school or community in addressing the experiences of youth with LGBT parents specifically. Learn about our tools- http://colage.org/resources/visibility.htm

If you are a youth with LGBT parents, a teacher or a parent who will be participating in No Name Calling Week, please let us know! Tell us how your school will fight name calling and homophobia in January.