WALL, N.J. — Student Transportation Inc. (STI) is celebrating its fourth annual Bullying Prevention Awareness Month in October with its company-wide “Operation: Bully Free Buses” campaign.

STI's family of companies throughout the U.S. and Canada will host events and activities raising awareness of bullying prevention and promoting kindness while continuing to educate their bus drivers and other employees on how to prevent bullying on the school bus.

"We transport over a million children to and from school every school day and we want our buses to be a safe zone and comforting environment for our children," said Nicholas Pizzo, director of organizational development and program organizer. "We want our drivers to be advocates for those children so they know the bus driver is there to help prevent them from being bullied as well."

The company is promoting an anti-bullying photo contest with photos from its employees throughout North America showing their solidarity against bullying, with the winning location to receive company apparel for its entire staff. STI team members launched the program by wearing blue shirts on Wednesday, with over 2,000 of them featuring the statement “I DRIVE A BULLY FREE BUS” to show their unity against bullying. In total, over 11,000 STI employees will be participating in the program in some way.

The company continues to add to its ST University training curriculum by implementing additional "Bullying Prevention Learning Modules," which help their drivers further establish the safe zone and comforting environment on the school bus while fostering a sense of care and compassion on the bus.

"Our goal every year is for 100% participation from our staff as well as participation from the children, parents, and other community members," added Pizzo. "When we have tools like our online training platform, feedback and dialogue with parents and school officials, and an organized effort from the company, we think we can spark a real change in the lives of our passengers."

For more information, visit STI’s website at www.RideSTBus.com and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/StudentTransportation).