The New York Museum of Tolerance: Taking a Stand Against Bullying

NEW YORK, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent wave of highly covered teen suicides has brought national attention to an increasingly serious and sometimes fatal social phenomenon -- bullying. The incidences of young people taking their own lives as a result of harassment regarding their sexuality, gender, religion, and other characteristic traits is on the rise, fueled by social networking sites.

In response to the bullying epidemic, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's museum in Los Angeles and its New York Museum of Tolerance have produced a powerful, interactive video which is showcased in its Point of View Diner. On Thursday, October 7 at 1:30 pm the Museum of Tolerance is offering a preview of this interactive video to the media.  The preview will be followed immediately by a 2:00 pm showing to the high school students at Columbia Secondary School. Some students of Columbia Secondary are willing to be interviewed after participating in this interactive learning experience.  The cutting edge video is presented in the Point of View Diner - a cyber cafe that screens scenarios portraying contemporary social issues.

The video being viewed by the Columbia Secondary students, presents the targeting of a new student at a high school who is bullied and subjected to innuendos about her sexual identity.  The audience's own experiences and views about bullying are challenged.  The video allows the audience to be interactive, answering questions about bullying and gives each the opportunity to interview the characters in the scenario.

The Museum of Tolerance produced this most timely video in response to scores of requests for help from educators, across the country.

Media coverage invited, RSVP required. For more information or to RSVP, call 212-843-8365 or e-mail [email protected].

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

SOURCE The Simon Wiesenthal Center