San Bruno Company Sponsors National Anti-Bullying Contest

, the San Bruno-based company that monitors kids' online social networking activities, has launched a peer-to-peer video contest that invites youths across the country to unite against cyberbullying.

The contest started Jan. 15, and teens are encouraged to write and and direct their own anti-bullying videos for the Great American NO BULL Challenge. Fifteen finalists will be selected, and the winners will be announced at a red carpet awards event on July 21 in San Francisco. They have the chance to win $25,000 worth of prizes, and the winning videos will be used as public service announcements, the company said.

The event is the brainchild of cyber safety expert and bestselling author Shawn Edgington.

"The false anonymity and en masse mentality social networks provide kids quickly evolve a harmless prank or tease into a major cyberbullying situation, which is far more psychologically damaging to our youth than a schoolyard fight," George Garrick, CEO of SocialShield, said in a statement. "Addressing cyberbullying is going to require peer influence and communication—teens talking to each other and parents talking with their teens. The NO BULL Challenge is a powerful catalyst for those conversations."

For more information about the contest, visit www.nobullchallenge.org.