Plainview residents Roni Benson and Ginger Lieberman recently co-authored a book entitled Bully Frog, which is geared to students in kindergarten through fifth grade and explains the reasons and remedies for bullying behavior. Unlike other books on the subject, Bully Frog addresses the issue from a child's perspective.

The book is a story of young frogs in the town of Lily Pond during their first days of school in Leapfrog Elementary School. Bully Frog wreaks havoc on the lives of two youngsters and soon the adults step in to help remedy the situation. But it is basically the students who must solve the problem by becoming proactive about caring, acting responsibly and being inclusive.

Bully Frog, with illustrations by Chris Dodge, is the first in a series on character education and, although the book can stand on its own, it also includes accompanying teaching materials for the classroom and information on how a school can adopt the no tolerance program for bullying.

Benson and Lieberman are co-directors and founders of the Long Island Professional and Parent Educators Network (LIPEN). They are also co-directors and founders of the 21st Century Save Our Kids Task Force. As part of the work of this organization, Benson and Lieberman coordinate a nationally acclaimed annual conference on preventing youth violence.

Both Benson and Lieberman, who have been active in the field of child violence prevention for over 15 years, are considered national experts on parenting, bullying and youth related issues. Their work has received recognition from members of the United States Senate and Congress as well as from members of the New York State Senate and Assembly. They are sought after as speakers and program consultants by school districts across the country and they are frequently guest speakers and workshop facilitators at regional and national educational conferences, workshops and symposia.

Benson is a journalist who has been published on a variety of educational issues, bully/victim relationships, youth violence prevention and parenting. Lieberman is Commissioner of Childcare for the Nassau County Legislature.

According to the authors, Bully Frog addresses the psychological and social issues of bullying from four points of view: The victims of the bullying, who often feel socially isolated, lack social skills, don't have many friends; the onlookers, who ignore the problem altogether or laugh at the bully's actions and inadvertently abet the bully; the school, which must provide for the safety of its students while providing for them an emotional environment in which learning can occur, and last the bully, who rather than being chastised and then thrown away by society needs to be repatriated into the group, to become able to channel his or her strengths productively ... perhaps one day to become a leader.

"Every year 160,000 students miss school because of their fear of being bullied," said Benson, who along with Lieberman presents bullying programs to staff, students and parents in the tri-state area. "Children who are afraid cannot learn. In Bully Frog, the bully, who rather than being chastised and then thrown away by society, is rehabilitated and repatriated into the group."

Psychologists and psychotherapists have endorsed Bully Frog as a helpful tool and it was a selection on News 12's Summer Beach Book Club.

"Bully Frog will surely enlighten youngsters about bullying at their most impressionable age," said Lieberman. "It is a vital story simply told with many class activities."

Benson and Lieberman will be reading their book Bully Frog to children at the Plainview Library on Dec. 3 at 4:15 p.m. The authors will also be doing their 10th annual conference on "Preventing Youth Violence" at C.W. Post University on Nov. 3. Bullying will be one of the topics and our keynote speaker is Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. He will sing his song about empathy, Don't Laugh At Me. Benson and Lieberman are working with him and his organization called Operation Respect.

For more information, please visit www.bullyfrog.com or call 433-9444.