President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have appeared in a video shot exclusively for Facebook, to discuss bullying prevention, and a summit that will take place on Thursday, addressing the topic.
“During that event, the President, First Lady, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services will welcome students, parents, and teachers for a conversation about effective policies and programs to prevent bullying,” Facebook’s Andrew Noyes tells us. “Facebook will take part in this important summit.”
“I’m not here to ask you to accept my friend request,” said Obama. “But I did want to let you know that Michelle and I are hosting an important meeting at the White House on Thursday, and we want you to be a part of it.”
“We’ll be talking with students, teachers, and parents about about how to stop bullying, and about the responsibility each of us has to make sure our children treat each other with respect,” said the First Lady.
“This isn’t an issue that makes headlines every day,” the President said. “But it affects every single young person in our country.”
“For a long tome, bullying was treated as an unavoidable part of growing up, but more and more, we’re seeing how harmful it can be for our kids – especially when it follows them from their school to their phone, to their computer screen,” he continued. “The good news is that there’s a growing movement led by young people themselves to make our schools and communities places where no one is made to feel alone or afraid for being different – where all of our children can thrive.”
“They understand that while technology has allowed us to connect like never before, and that’s a good thing, it shouldn’t affect how we treat each other,” he added.
For Facebook’s part, it will host a special Facebook DC Live from the White House. This will feature a conversation about how people can “work together to make the Internet safer and promote a culture of shared responsibility and of strong digital citizenship,” Facebook tells us.
That show airs at 12:20 p.m. ET on the White House Live and Facebook DC Live Facebook pages. Guests will include: Facebook Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan, teen behavior expert Rosalind Wiseman, MTV Vice President Jason Rzepka and Kalpen Modi, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Details about how to ask questions live can be found here.
