FAIRFIELD – The fifth annual Bowling Against Bullying takes place Friday, June 5 – a perfect night of bowling, prizes and pizza.

It all begins at 6 p.m. at the Nutmeg Bowl, 802 Villa Ave., Fairfield. Bowling begins at 6:30 p.m., and each team gets to bowl two games.

Co-chairs of this year’s event are Christopher Givens of Monroe and Christine Kennedy of Trumbull.

This year, 18 million children will be bullied, an age-old issue that The Center understands only too well. Through its education programs, The Center teaches children and teens ways to build healthy relationships and to stop bullying.

Bullies come in all shapes, sizes and ages, beginning at age 4, when children first begin to notice differences. Girls bully just as often as boys. And thanks to technology, cyberbullying and sexting have created untold avenues for bullies to attack. Consider these facts:

  • Each day, an estimated 160,000 students in the United States refuse to go to school because they dread the physical and verbal aggression of their peers.
  • Many more than this number attend school in a chronic state of anxiety and depression because of bullying.
  • Six out of 10 American youth witness bullying at least once a day.
  • One out of 10 students drop out or change schools because of repeated bullying.
  • Approximately 25 percent of school bullies will be convicted of a criminal offence in their adult years.
  • 282,000 students are attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month.
  • Suicide rates among adolescents have grown more than 50 percent in the past 30 years.

The event costs $40 a person, and includes the games, shoe rental, pizza and soda. There will be lots of prizes awarded, including for the team with the best outfit and that with the most team spirit.

The Center is also looking for lane sponsors, beginning at $150, and corporate sponsors beginning at $250.

To register: www.CenterForFamilyJustice.org or Pam Doherty at 203-334-6154 ext. 31, or pdoherty@centerforfamilyjustice.org.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR FAMILY JUSTICE

The Center for Family Justice (formerly The Center for Women and Families of Eastern Fairfield County Inc.) brings all domestic and sexual assault services – police, prosecutors, civil/legal providers, community advocates – under one roof. Although our name has changed, we will continue with the work we have provided for almost 120 years, helping those touched by domestic and sexual violence and child abuse obtain free, confidential, bilingual crisis services in Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull. Additionally, each year, The Center teaches more than 7,000 children and teens about how to build healthy relationships, the dangers of bullying and how to prevent dating violence; answers more than 2,000 calls on its 24-hour crisis hotline; assists with the civil and criminal court processes for more than 3,000 survivors of domestic violence; responds to more than 300 survivors of sexual assault and their families; provides a safe home for more than 100 women and children fleeing domestic abuse; and coordinates the investigations of more than 100 cases of child sexual and severe physical abuse, developing service plans for the young survivors and their families. For more information, visit www.cwfefc.org.