Auburn University Honors Attorney Gerald A. Griggs as National Hero Award Recipient

Atlanta, GA — Being an “upstander” rather than a “bystander” in bullying situations requires courage and risk, but individuals or groups who take the initiative to be “upstanders” – those people whom we describe as Anti-Bullying Heroes – become an impetus for change in schools and communities. The Hero Awards were presented at Auburn University’s Fourth Annual National Anti-Bullying Summit, June 26-27, 2014 in Peachtree City, Georgia. The Summit was sponsored by Auburn University’s Office of Professional and Continuing Education and by the Truman Pierce Institute in the College of Education.

Among the honorees was Mr. Gerald Griggs, a community leader and attorney from DeKalb County, Georgia. Griggs has worked for many years providing anti-bullying advocacy and education throughout the United States, from his base in Decatur, Georgia. In 2011, he was a featured speaker at the second annual National Federal Partners in Bullying Summit in Washington D.C. For the past three years, he has visited Metro Atlanta School Systems with the Hot 107.9 “Bullying is Not Hot” Tour, spreading the anti-bullying message. In 2009, following a high profile case in which a bullied student committed suicide, Mr. Griggs began to lobby the Georgia General Assembly to strengthen Georgia’s Bullying law.

With support from state senator Mike Jacobs and other legislative advocates, Georgia’s Anti-bullying law was changed in 2011 to include all primary grades, age appropriate sanctions, and transfer of students after a third bullying incident. This made Georgia’s Anti-Bullying law one of the toughest in the nation at that point. Mr. Griggs has hosted town hall meetings and has appeared on local and national radio shows to discuss the need for anti-bullying initiatives and victim advocacy. He also educates students about their rights about how not to be a bystander but to uplift the victim and stop the bully.

Officials at Auburn University say they are proud to honor the anti-bullying efforts and work of Griggs by presenting him with the 2014 Auburn HERO Award for Community Activism. They comment, “It is our hope that through his efforts, attention and change will come to the problem of bullying in our nation’s school systems.”

For more details about Attorney Gerald A. Griggs and his law firm, visitwww.therightattorneyrightnow.com

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Attorney Gerald A. Griggs
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