...Contacting Brenda

Brenda High .. Phone: 509-547-1052 Cell: 509-302-8888 .. Brenda (at) jaredstory (dot). com

BUT WAIT...  Before you call me…do a little homework

If you have questions about what to do for your child who is being bullied, why not invest a little money in the Bully Police E-Book Part II.

 

In Part II of The Bully Police E-Book you will find expert advise for parents and children on how to deal with school bullying...and the people who can prevent bullying. Go to http://www.bullypolice.com/EBookII.html to read a little about this E-Book and to www.bullypolice.com to order.  The cost is $4.95.   There are also e-books for educators, media and news reporters, students doing research, and activists who are trying to get anti bullying laws or policies in school districts.
 

(Do you know that it cost $150-$350 an hour to talk to an attorney?  You wouldn’t walk into an attorney’s office and start asking him/her questions about bullying, having not first done your homework to limit your time in his office, would you?  Think of “time” as being a valuable commodity, and then you will see the value of doing a little homework first.)
 

You can also find invaluable information on these websites:

www.BullyPolice.org - Laws - Advocating for the Rights of Children
www.JaredStory.com - A Healing, Memorial & Education Website
www.HeroesInTheCrowd.com - A Method, A Way to Stop the Bullying
www.Bullycide.org - Stories of Teens who died by Bullycide
http://BullySuicides.com - A Community of Caring People

Please note that I'm on Pacific Time

If you live on the East Coast and you call me in the morning, I'm sleeping.  I won't answer the phone.  I'm rarely ready to take calls before Noon your time - 9 AM my time.  Even if I get up early, say 7 am, I usually have a lot more important things to do those first few hours, like, wake up!

 

I never seem to have many late night calls, but if you are a night owl, you can try to call me up to 10 pm Pacific Time - 1: am Eastern Time.  :)
 

Also...

I probably won't answer phone calls from "800/866" area codes or have "Unavailable" or "Anonymous" in the Caller ID.  I figure if you are "Unavailable" or "Anonymous", I'll be that too!
 

Concerning cell phone calls

I don't keep my cell with me at all times like some people I know.  I live a bit out in the country so the reception isn't very clear ("Can you hear me now?").  Please call my home phone first and if I'm not home, leave a message.  If you are a member of the media or need to get a hold of me quickly, call the home line first, then call my cell phone, AND send me an email.  Leave messages on both answering machines.  One of these messages will get to me.
 

Note: If you have called my home number and I haven’t called you back within a couple of days, feel free to call again or leave another message.  But, it's very likely that I'm out of town and I've not gotten your message yet.
 

My thoughts about cell phones…

There are some people who live or die for their cell phones – they won’t go anywhere without them.  Heck, I’ve even heard people talk on their cell phones while they sat on the toilet, and even worse, one guy talked on his cell phone in the pew in back of me at a funeral. (I promise that if that ever happens again, I'll get up, grab the cell phone and throw it out the door!)
 

My cell phone is just a phone in my pocket, sometimes forgotten, sometimes not.  I won’t answer it if I’m talking to someone, busy doing something with my hands, or if I’m driving.  However, if I know a call is coming, I’ll put on my earpiece and wait for the call…but I won’t have fun doing it, because I think those ear-gadgets are funny looking.
 

So, what I’m trying to say is ; You will have a lot more luck getting me on my home number and I’ll be much more open to helping you with your problem if you call me there first.  I don’t want to explain about what to do for your child while in a line at Costco or while at the Doctor’s office, and etc.   I am a multi-tasker, but using a cell phone and trying to handle groceries doesn’t work well for me.
 

A little about myself

I am not an Attorney, a Police Officer, a Therapist or a Doctor.  In fact, I am not a “Professional” at all.  I am a mom who lost a child to suicide as a result of bullying.  As a result, I am now “on a mission to stop school bullying” so MY bad experiences do not become YOUR bad experiences.   If you or your child is in need of professionals, please contact them within 24 hours of the bullying incident. 

  

Email

Some days I’m very busy and I might visit my email once in the morning and once at night.   There are some days I don’t check my email at all, especially days that I’m traveling, writing or working on my websites.  If you send me a long email, I will fast-read or skim through your email.  No matter how long your e-mail is, my answer to you may be just a few words.  Really, I do care, but there is only so much of me (and my time) to go around.

 

How many emails do I get?

When I returned from a 5-day trip (where I couldn’t do email), I loaded over 900 emails, and those were the filtered emails.  It took a couple of hours to delete 95% of them and a couple of days to get caught up…well, in all honesty, I never caught up, so sadly, some emails were filed away and forgotten.  The best way to get me to answer an email is to ask ONE question that isn’t answered on one of my websites, and don't expect a long reply.

 

If I don’t reply within a reasonable time (a couple of days), then call.  Always call my home phone first and leave a message.   Many times, I’m working (intently) on a project and I won’t pick up the phone.  I’ll call you back as soon as I have a little time.  If I don’t call you back within 24 hours, this probably means I’m VERY busy with a project or out of town.

How do I say this and not sound insensitive… Please don’t keep me on the phone very long telling me your child’s story.  I want to help and I could spend all day giving you advice on the phone, but I will need to limit our conversations to 10 minutes at tops.  Give a minute or two of your child’s story and then let me talk.  I may or may not give you the answer you want to hear, but it will be an honest opinion.  I hope that, and knowing that I care, will be enough time spent.  If we need to spend more time on the phone, we can set another time to talk.

 

Note: Since I get numerous emails and many phone calls a day, please help me remember who you are…Hey, I’m getting older every day and my memory isn’t what I’d like it to be.
 

In your emails, please keep a copy the prior correspondence at the bottom and that will help remind me about your son or daughter’s bullying situation.
 

One last thing... about email attachments

I NEVER open attachments unless I'm expecting an attachment.  You should NEVER open an attachment unless you're expecting an attachment.  We live in a dangerous, computer virus world.  Don’t open files or attachments unless you are POSITIVE that your computer will survive it.