A Riverhead Mom & Photographer Spreads the Love to Combat Bullying

Yesterday I received a message from another Macaroni Kid Publisher Mom, she asked me to share this article and to help spread awareness to the kids around us that are being bullied!

Dawn Betke, Riverhead Macaroni Kid Publisher Mom wrote:

Sometime ago I started noticing photographs in my feed on Facebook, ok so there was something special about these photos, yes. Everyone in them was holding a sign with the simple phrase "Love One Another" written across it. I smiled each time one would pop into my feed, really how could you not?  I didn't know what was behind the idea of the sign, but I did know that the photos were taken by a caring Mom of two that I have the pleasure of being acquainted with for several years.

Yesterday the explanation regarding the sign came to light on her facebook page, JNI Photography. Riverhead Mom, Jenny Intravia explained that she had been asking people to pose with the sign in an effort to combat the bullying her 8 year old daughter has been facing every year since she started Kindergarten. 

"It's so hard." explained Intravia. " How do you explain to a child who has been raised to treat everyone with kindness, and respect, regardless of their life's circumstances, that she is not liked enough by some to receive that same respect and kindness?" 

Intravia acknowledges that her daughter is just one kid in a world of bullied kids, but as parents she and her husband find the situation heartbreaking. "I realize not everyone is going to love one another or even ‪‎like one another‬ but can we all just agree to be kind to each other anyway?" stated Intravia.

Enter the "Love One Another" sign! Purchased three year ago, the sign hung on the Intravia family living room wall until recently when the idea for a photo shoot struck the up-and-coming photographer. "What if we were surrounded by messages like this regularly? On billboards, in magazines or Buzzfeed, anywhere, everywhere? What would our world be like if we loved one another regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, waist size, bank account size, etc. What if we taught our children this?" Intravia explained.

Intravia says she has received positive feedback when asking people to pose with the sign for a photo.  "I explain that I have been inspired by my daughter and her struggle with bullies. Every person so far has smiled when they read the sign and then held it for a photograph." 

Hoping that the message will catch on in the community and possibly beyond, Intravia knows she and her husband are not alone in combating bullies. "All I know is that I am not the only mother struggling to understand why her child is singled out, made to feel alone, sad, anxious, hurt, picked apart. But it is my job to show her the good in this world and to me, the good are the folks in these pictures."