Anti-bullying youth rally set Friday in Ballston Spa

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

A recently formed group seeking to reduce youth bullying in Ballston Spa will hold a youth rally in the village Friday afternoon.

Community Allies is organizing the Bullying Awareness and Prevention Youth Rally, which organizers hope will become an annual event, to be held 4-5 p.m.

Participating youth will meet at the Ballston Area Community Center on Scott Street, and then walk on Milton Avenue and Front Street to Village Hall.

There, they will meet with Ballston Spa Mayor John P. Romano, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III, and Superintendent of Schools Joseph P. Dragone. The rally will be followed by a celebration with live music, food, games, activities and arts and crafts back at the Community Center.

Community Allies has declared November Bullying Awareness Month. The group will be conducting after-school awareness programs and workshops on physical, verbal and emotional bullying, things bystanders can do to counter bullying, and cyber bullying.

Community Allies was launched in July 2010 with the goal of preventing abusive behaviors in the Ballston Spa community.

The group did a community survey that found that concern about bullying behavior is most common in children ages 11 to 13. Organizers said that also reflects national findings about the ages at which bullying most often occurs.

The partners in Community Allies include Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Services of Saratoga County, CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services, the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council, the Ballston Spa Community Center, the Ballston Spa School District and the District Attorney’s Office.