Clawson to Host Anti-Bullying Seminar

An anti-bullying expert will share her knowledge with the Clawson community Wednesday at a special program sponsored by Clawson Youth Assistance.

Cindy Hilley, a provisional trainer from the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, will be at the from 7 to 9 p.m. to speak with families about anti-bullying. 

Hilley said she will discuss statistics, online resources, sexual harassment and the effects of being a victim or bystander to bullying.

"My entire point of this is to give people the empowerment to help themselves," Hilley said. "Our goal is to enable kids to go to school and be safe."

Liz Carnegie, an intern for the city of Clawson, said she collaborated with Mayor Penny Luebs to organize the program for community outreach. Carnegie said she wanted to plan workshops that would be influential, and bullying is a topic many families can relate to. Next Monday, there will be another workshop on grandparents raising grandchildren.

"We just thought that those were two topics that were important to people in Clawson," Carnegie said.

Hilley, who has a bachelor's and master's degree in social work from Wayne State University, said the program will benefit families with children of all ages. She currently works with the Lake Orion School District to train staff members on bully prevention policies. She said she hopes to expand her training to other school districts.

Carnegie said her goal is to continue hosting programs that will benefit Clawson families.

"We hope to do more of these coming up," Carnegie said. "It’s just a really good way for the community to get involved."

The grandparents raising grandchildren program is set for 6-8 p.m. Monday at Hunter. Both programs are free and open to the public.