WASH To Wash Out Bullying

WASH is the acronym for Writers Against School Harassment. WASH exists to wash out bullying by bringing together the collective community of writers from every corner of the globe to use the power of the written word to prevent this epidemic that is no longer just "kids being kids". Bullying has taken lives by way of suicide, something we now know as "Bullicide", a term coined by well known writer, Kathy Faust.

WASH was founded in October of 2010 by Dan Hensley & Saorise O'Mara, in memory of Sladjana Vidovic, whose tormentors continued their victimizing ways when they showed up at her wake and made fun of her body, and cracked tasteless jokes about what lifeless Sladjana looked like as her grieving family looked on.

Other young people have taken their lives before Sladjana. Most recently, a college student whose fellow students streamed a same sex encounter between him and another male on the internet, took his life as a result of this ultimate form of advanced bullying. When tormentors can cause their victims to take their own lives, facing absolutely zero possibilities of consequences for their actions, it is time people from all over stand up and say ENOUGH!

In this effort to wash out bullying, it is imperative that actions take precedence over an internet presence. The old adage that says "The pen is mightier than the sword" is absolutely true. In this technologically advanced world, the internet has become a breeding ground for deadly bullying just as the school yard and colleges have classically been the main attraction of bullies. It is imperative that we recognize bullying does not know the boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, social standing, financial class, sexual preference, disability, or national origin.

WASH wishes to build relationships with writers of every genre, of every type of work experience, and every level of professional public exposure in the art of the written word. WASH exists without any certain or definitive social, religious, political, or other belief. WASH exists simply to use the literary arts as a way to build community relationships with parents, schools, colleges, social service agencies, mental health professionals, concerned friends of victims, law enforcement agencies, human service agencies, and other concerns charged with the well being of others who experience trauma.

WASH exists to use our influence and talents as a way to teach the example of humane conflict settlement, humane communications, and celebration of the differences that make us all who and what we are. Tolerance isn't enough. We need to be finders & givers of hope. In memory of those who have lost their lives by medical cause of Bullicide, welcome to WASH!