Advocacy
In The Field
Do It For Dolly – Go blue to end bullying with these ECEC specific resources
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Freya Lucas
May 10, 2024
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Friday 10 May is Do It For Dolly Day, a national day in memory of Dolly Everett who tragically took her own life, aged 14 years, due to ongoing bullying and cyberbullying.
Do It For Dolly Day is dedicated to bringing the community together by spreading kindness, raising awareness and vital funds, and going blue to end bullying.Determined that no other family would suffer from the same devastation, Dolly’s parents Tick and Kate Everett established Dolly’s Dream. They have committed to changing the culture of bullying by addressing the impact of bullying, anxiety, depression, and youth suicide, through awareness, education and direct support to young people and families.While bullying, particularly cyber bullying, is not always considered as an issue for the early childhood sector to be concerned with, the issue isn’t going away.
The vital work of Dolly’s Dream supports Australian families by providing crucial services such as their free 24-hour support line, anti-bullying and online safety workshops in schools, mental health first aid training in communities and more recently the free Beacon cyber safety app - a trustworthy resource for parents and carers to help them confidently navigate their family’s technology use and reduce associated harms.
Every May a number of services and organisations in communities all across Australia come together to remember Dolly by wearing and decorating with Dolly’s favourite colour - blue - and donating towards and participating in fundraising activities to help support the important anti-bullying work of Dolly’s Dream, sharing the message to ‘be kind and speak - even if your voice shakes.’
There are a number of ways for ECEC to show their support:
- Go Blue – Dress or decorate in blue (Dolly’s favourite colour)
- Donate – help deliver bullying prevention and online safety programs in your community
- Fundraise – help support anti-bullying initiatives and stop precious lives being lost.
- Spread the word! – use the specific early learning resources and Kindness Activities or share something on social media. See the full range of resources here.
Learn more about Dolly’s Dream in this short video or visit the website here.
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