press > Two River Film Festival, Big Brothers Big Sister, Prevention First team up to tackle big issues addressing young people. for immediate release: September 6 , 2007 Grace Hanlon Edvantage Media Inc. The Two River Film Festival is expending the Educational Outreach program to focus on Bullying., an epidemic in our schools. Michelle Baratta and Grace Hanlon the co-chairs of the Educational Outreach of the program are spearheading the initiative. Supporting the development of the program are local non-profit organizations Prevention First and Big Brother Big Sisters of Monmouth County. This is the first step in addressing topics of grave importance in children in our community. The goal of the program is to develop programming through the use of film for students of middle school age to address issues of Drug Abuse, Gangs, Bullying and Low Self Esteem. Through viewing film and participating in discussions as well as activities designed around the issues of Drug Abuse, Gangs, Bullying and Low Self Esteem the students will be more aware of the issues and the need for prevention. According to Grace Hanlon an educational media producer, “We plan on screening documentary short Let's Get Real which examines a variety of issues that lead to taunting and bullying, including racial differences, perceived sexual orientation, learning disabilities, religious differences, sexual harassment and others. The film not only gives a voice to targeted kids, but also to kids who do the bullying to find out why they lash out at their peers and how it makes them feel. The most heartening part of Let's Get Real includes stories of kids who have mustered the courage to stand up for themselves or a classmate.” The Two River Film Festival also addresses violence in the media through programming and outreach into local schools: • The average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders  • Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a single individual found that 8-year-old boys, who viewed the most violent programs growing up, were the most likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior by age 18 and serious criminal behavior by age 30.   • According to the National Television Violence Study, the context in which violence is portrayed is as important to its impact as the amount of violence. The study concluded that 66% of children's programming had violence. Of the shows with violent content three-quarters demonstrated unpunished violence and when violence occurred 58% of the time, victims were not shown experiencing pain. (14) The Two River Film Festival http://www.tworiverfilmfestival.com/program.htm