New York Times bestselling author and speaker Jodee Blanco was a victim of bullying as a child and has used her experiences to make a difference nationwide since her memoir Please Stop Laughing at Me was published at the end of 2002.
Blanco spoke about bullying at St. Elizabeth Catholic School Monday. She had presentations for kindergarteners through second graders, third and fourth graders and fifth graders on up. She had a faculty workshop after school and a parent seminar in the evening. The plan was to implement social-emotional learning into the curriculum.
Looking back on her childhood, Blanco said she was bullied from fifth grade through high school and found one common denominator for all victims.
“I was an old soul. I was like a grownup in a kid’s body,” Blanco said. “I saw the world through a grownup’s eyes, but I experienced emotion wanting to fit in like any other kid the same age. That’s why I struggled.”
Speaking at St. Elizabeth Monday, Blanco had three messages. One, bullying is not just the mean things one does, it also what a person does not do. She said excluding kids is a form of bullying. Another message was children cannot fit in because of good qualities they have that are difficult for peers to understand. She also encouraged having compassion for bullies because they are children in pain crying for help. She said forms of bullying include physical bullying, teasing and threatening.
Blanco talked about the difference Please Stop Laughing at Me made for many.
“It was really one of the core books to launch the anti-bullying movement in America,” Blanco said. “I was the first adult to ever write a memoir looking back on my experiences in school and it’s credited with starting the anti-bullying movement or being among the starters, key catalysts for the movement. For the past 20 years, I’ve been traveling to schools, sharing my story and implementing an anti-bullying program that consists of student presentations, professional development, family work, curricula like papers, the whole nine yards. I’ve done that program for 10s of thousands of people.”
The Columbine High School shooting massacre in 1999 inspired Blanco to get involved.
“When Columbine happened in 1999, I realized America really doesn’t get it,” Blanco said. “People don’t understand.”
Blanco said that was when she decided to write memoir that became a bestseller. However, she had to fight to get a publisher. Once she got a publisher, her memoir became a bestseller in less than 48 hours.
Even before Blanco wrote her memoir, she was into writing.
Blanco, 57, owned an international PR firm for the first 16 years of her career and worked in entertainment and publishing industries. She always knew about telling stories, loved writing as a kid, kept a journal and wrote her anger away.
“What made me do it as an adult is I wanted to turn my pain into purpose,” Blanco said.
After her memoir came out, she started receiving emails from kids threatening suicide and begging her to come to their school. She still owned her PR firm and finished working on a film with actor Jim Carrey.
“I walked away from a thriving career in the entertainment and publishing industry,” Blanco said. “As the owner of a boutique PR firm, I walked away, gave the firm to my partner – gave it to her – and said I need to help these kids.”
Blanco said she gave talks and her work evolved into a comprehensive program INJJA (It’s Not Just Joking Around) to help stop bullying. She works with schools regularly.
She said other forms of bullying include corporate bullying. Her campaign against domestic violence won an award from President Joe Biden when he was a senator in Delaware during the 2000 inaugural week.
Blanco wrote book Evolving Woman with a friend about domestic violence. It consisted of stories of women around the country who have been abused and got out of the situation. They toured battered women’s shelters and did motivational work and Biden gave Blanco The Celebration of Hope award.
Blanco said the hardest bullying is in small towns because kids know each other well and it is hard to escape stigmas. However, she said small towns are more compassionate and tight-knit.
“It’s a softer approach here than a bigger area,” Blanco said. “When I come here and I’m doing presentations, the approach is much softer than if I’m doing it in let’s say, Long Island, N.Y. or in Santa Monica, Calif., because if it’s a smaller town and it’s a smaller audience, I don’t need to have that forcefulness. There’s that gentility and a sort of love, just omnipresent by virtue of the size.”
She praised Clarksdale and the Delta for the culture of blues and music.
“The warmth of the teachers and the warmth of the community and the kids are so eager and earnest – it’s an amazing community,” Blanco said. “I’m honored to be here.”
Blanco said any schools interested in having her speak may contact her at jodee@jodeeblanco.com or 312-961-3430. Her website is www.jodeeblanco.com.
Blanco calls herself “an enlightened Catholic” and does a lot of work in the Catholic school systems. Every year, she is a featured speaker at the national convention for Catholic schools. Principals and administrators for the diocese in Jackson saw her speak and asked her to implement the program into their schools. She planned to attend schools in Vicksburg, Madison and Southaven this week.
Blanco grew up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago in the Palos and Orland area. She was raised in the United States for half of her childhood and Europe the other half. She also lived in New York for 20 years. She resides in the Chicago area today.
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