BAZAAR Co-Hosts Anti-Bullying Luncheon With Balenciaga and the NCA
This Tuesday, Harper’s Bazaar co-hosted a luncheon with Balenciaga and the National Children’s Alliance to highlight the brand’s partnership with the organization and to foster a conversation about cyberbulling in the age of social media.
Balenciaga’s support of the NCA comes after two campaigns by the fashion house last year were met with controversy and concern due to the use of children in one. With Balenciaga’s funding, the NCA will be able to train almost 2,000 specialists to help kids heal from trauma, and provide mental health care access for up to 55,000 more children in the next three years.
“Fashion is about so much more than clothes; it’s about identity, it’s about the way you feel about yourself, and it’s about the way you engage with the world—[especially] for young people today who are just figuring out who they are and how to make their way,” Nasr said to a table of children’s advocates, fashion industry professionals, and parents at La Residence, in New York City’s SoHo. “That is why this incredible partnership between Balenciaga and the National Children’s Alliance is so important and so special.”
“As you may recall, this past fall, Balenciaga released two separate ad campaigns that sparked widespread concern and even outrage with the inclusion of children in one,” Nasr added. “The leadership at Balenciaga found their future partners at NCA, where they not only made a commitment to learn, but to invest in the NCA’s mission to protect the safety and mental health of children everywhere.”
NCA chief executive officer Teresa Huizar—who spoke with Bazaar.com last week about the partnership and the work the NCA does to help children across the country—also addressed the room and pointed out the importance of having conversations with kids about bullying and abuse.
“We think cyberbullying is kind of an uncommon experience, but it’s sad to say that in a nationally representative sample of high school students, almost 50 percent said they had already experienced cyberbullying in their lifetime, and almost a quarter said they had experienced it in the last 30 days,” she said.
In a call to action, Huizar added, “If you don’t have children yourself, that’s fine. You have children in your life—it could be a niece or nephew, it could be a neighbor, it could be a friend who has a child. Talk to them about cyberbullying; let them know the things we’ve talked about today. Secondly, talk to your circle of influence. The more we can amplify this message, the better, [and] the more we can educate.”
Upon leaving the event, each attendee was provided with resources about preventing and intervening in cyberbullying, including a book on how to help kids build healthy relationships with technology.
“The exploitation of children is of absolute global concern, and we know that together, we can do so much to really effect change,” concluded Vira Capeci, Balenciaga’s chief executive officer of the Americas.
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