EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) — As the issue of bullying is getting more attention, a group of young Girl Scouts decided to take a stand and raise awareness about the issue.

At the Eau Claire Bully Free event held at Owen Park Saturday, kids helped kids to defy and take a stand against bullying.

“It kind of hurts seeing my peers bullying little sixth graders, it’s not ok,” said one of the event organizers, 8th grader with the Girl Scout Troop 3007 Kaylee Wait.

“I think this event is mostly about preventing bullying and getting it out to the public,” said 6th grader Sasha Kirby, who is also a Girl Scout with Troop 3007 and co-organizer of the awareness walk.

“We’ve got three- sixth grade, two-sevenths grade, and two-eight grade girls who identified a problem in their community, identified a way to fix that problem, trying to help with that problem,” added Troop 3007 leader Melissa Wait.

Parents and kids say they see it everywhere: on buses, at schools, on the play grounds. And stopping bullying, they say, needs to be an everyday fight.

“Bullying stops within ten seconds over half the time when somebody stands up and speaks out against it,” said Jeni Gronemus Physiotherapist with Sacred Heart Behavioral Health.

And experts say kids hearing about the problem from peers, could be the most effective tool.

“Kids are all about peer pressure; and so if the peer pressure is the positive peer pressure, than hopefully we’ll see them follow in the direction that these young ladies are putting on this event today,” said mother of three girls Courtney Paul.

“What did you learn?” said Francine Clark , who attended the event with her daughter .
“That you should stand up for yourself, and knowing how to stand up for yourself, without being a bully,” responded to her mom eight-year-old Patricia Clark.

And parents say the younger they start educating their kids, the better are chance that their little ones will grow up in a bully-free environment.

http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Kids-help-kids-take-a-stand-against-bullying--208020321.html

Animal Coalition of Delaware County

Offers timely health advice for pets, behavioral tricks of the trade, follow-up success stories, and more. Updated regularly by ACDC’s all-volunteer staff that includes long-time foster parents and pet owners who have years of experience.

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2013/05/18/news/doc519841c38bb89684491952.txt

Read the full story here – and see a gallery of the thrift store clothes: Mom gives bullying daughter a unique punishment

What do you think about this mom’s disciplinary actions? Leave a comment below.

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http://wtkr.com/2013/05/18/mom-forces-bullying-daughter-to-don-thrift-store-threads/

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Would you know how to identify cyberbullying if it was happening to you or your child?

On Wednesday night parents and kids got the chance to learn how to deal with this problem from a nationally known bullying specialist and at the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

This is Monroe County’s second annual event targeting cyberbullying. The county sponsored this event to continue to raise awareness about the damage bullying can do.

News10NBC learned some pretty grim statistics from Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks. She says one in five Monroe County teens say they have been bullied and 160,000 students countywide say they skip school to avoid being bullied.

“How many of you are on Facebook? Everyone almost,” said Sameer Hinduja,

Hinduja is the co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center at Florida Atlantic University. He is well known in the fight against bullying.

Hinduja gave a compelling presentation, talking mostly to the teens and kids in the audience.

Hinduja conducted two other seminars on Wednesday with teachers, counselors and school administrators.

His message to young people is simple. If you want to get noticed, instead of spreading negative messages, start a positive campaign on Facebook, Twitter or some other social networking site.

Hinduja showed video examples of kids who started tweeting positive messages about other students and in every case that student became a hometown hero.

He encouraged kids to speak up and report cyberbullying, campaign for social justice, work to become known for something bigger than yourself.

Hinduja also gave advice for parents.

“A lot of parents feel overwhelmed because they haven’t grown up with the technology. But honestly, all that they’ve learned in parenting 101 still applies. You just have to tweak it a little bit. For example, you have to discipline them. They’re not going to naturally know the right things to do. You have train them on what to do when it comes to online technology and you have to keep in constant communication with them. I Feel many adults are involved in their kids offline lives, but not their online lives. We want to encourage them to take that step,” said Hinduja.

Hinduja passed on a couple of helpful websites:

Facebook for Parents

Video Games and Kids

Get Parental Controls

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Read more of John Mooney’s education stories on www.njspotlight.com.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130518_Reversal_of_bullying_charge.html

http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/michigan_lawmaker_backs_anti-c.html

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/local/school-has-1st-annual-anti-bullying-5k

Ratliff, 43, has used her background as a legal-aid attorney and respected teacher in a high-performing school to impress editorial boards and educators.

In the March 5 primary, Sanchez claimed 44% of voters, with Ratliff next at 34%, setting up Tuesday’s runoff.

The campaign spending has been lopsided for Sanchez. The Coalition for School Reform, the mayor’s group, amassed more than $1 million for the runoff, with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad the largest donors. To date, independent groups, including the L.A. County Federation of Labor and Local 99 of Service Employees International, have spent nearly $1.9 million for Sanchez.

His own fundraising totals about $132,000, according to the latest filing. Ratliff, meanwhile, has no outside campaign to help; she has raised about $42,000.

The candidates are vying to represent the east San Fernando Valley, a mostly working-class Latino area, on the seven-member board.

They don’t have vast differences in their positions. Ratliff, however, has been inconsistent in her take on L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy, saying most recently that she would not move to replace him. Sanchez is an avowed Deasy supporter — the key reason for his backing by Villaraigosa’s allies. They support Deasy’s efforts to limit seniority protections for teachers and they also back the superintendent’s push to include student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations.

The county labor federation knows Sanchez from his service as a midlevel aide for last fall’s successful campaign to defeat Proposition 32, a statewide anti-labor initiative. Sanchez also has the blessing of a phalanx of labor allies already in office.

United Teachers Los Angeles, which is sharply critical of Deasy, endorsed both candidates. Many teachers are upset that the union did not vigorously back Ratliff, the elected union leader at her school, even though she has not adopted the union position on some issues.

One factor was money — the union depleted its war chest to reelect incumbent Steve Zimmer in the March primary. Union officials said they were reluctant to borrow funds to contest a Sanchez victory that seemed inevitable — before Ratliff’s strong primary showing.

But even without huge donations, the union could mobilize a small army of volunteers. Many individual teachers have volunteered for Ratliff, but the union’s neutrality proved a massive benefit to Sanchez.

In union meetings, the leadership has said that Sanchez was being groomed for higher office by officials they needed to appease, especially if they wanted to prevail in the Legislature on laws affecting teaching evaluations and tenure rules, said members who were present.

Some high-level union members alleged that there was a deal for Sanchez to let UTLA choose his chief of staff — which top officials and Sanchez deny.

Some praise Sanchez’s political instincts.

“He has the type of personality that is conducive to getting things done in a difficult political environment,” said supporter Alex Reza, who was Sanchez’s government teacher at San Fernando High. “He is a good listener and he sees perspectives of issues.”

And Sanchez “shares the life experience of many of our students” — having entered local schools not speaking English.

Sanchez remembers this vividly: “I’ll never forget the day I walked out of the apartment and thought: ‘How in the world am I going to talk to anybody?’” Sanchez said.

Sanchez last year completed his master’s in urban and regional planning at UCLA. Along the way, he was a field representative for a state legislator and for Villaraigosa.

“I’m used to being the youngest one in the room, with people either underestimating me or telling me I’m inexperienced,” he said. “My passion is fueled by a very simple idea: We have to have more kids graduating from high school.”

Newspaper editorial boards and some observers have concluded that Sanchez’s resume is too thin for the job, especially when compared to Ratliff.

“We liked him, but his response to our questions lacked depth,” said Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents district administrators. Ratliff “had a deep knowledge of teaching and learning. She was clear on the priorities of students in the district.”

Ratliff, who is Latina and grew up in Arizona, won a scholarship to Columbia University, where she also earned her law degree. During work as a legal aid attorney, “something hit me like a lightning bolt,” she said. “Poverty is the problem, and the solution is education.”

She teaches fifth grade at San Pedro Street Elementary, a Los Angeles school that has achieved high test scores despite serving students from mostly low-income families.

On education matters, Ratliff said she’s learned from her principal and her colleagues as well as her previous experience as a lawyer. What sets her apart, she said, is being “in the classroom for over a decade at a school that is much like many schools in the district — and that has been improving.”

howard.blume@latimes.com

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/05/17/kennedy-school-students-demand-inquiry-into-immigration-thesis/kN365rFIpV4QXDcG6l4QGO/story.html

Pittsgrove Superintendent Henry Bermann is pictured in this file photo.

PITTSGROVE TWP. — An incident between two students determined to be an act of bullying by the Pittsgrove Township School District has been reversed by the state commissioner of education as a less serious altercation between children.

The overturned case marks the first time that Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has reversed a claim of bullying since New Jersey’s strict anti-bullying law was enacted about two years ago.

According to a synopsis of Cerf’s decision, the incident occurred in February 2012 when an eighth grade student identified as C.H. reportedly shoved a crumpled piece of paper down another student’s shirt.

C.H. and the other student had been involved in “an ongoing and unresolved conflict” leading up to the incident, the synopsis states.

After reviewing the incident according to new state guidelines, the Pittsgrove Township Board of Education filed a charge of bullying against C.H. A number of follow-up investigations ensued, as well as counter charges of bullying filed by C.H.

Administrative Law Judge W. Todd Miller eventually ruled that the incident did not amount to bullying or harassment as defined in state law.

In late April, Cerf affirmed the decision, finding the district’s allegations of bullying to be “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” rulings which “must be overturned.”

“[T]he conflict between these students did not contain the serious and aggravating elements necessary to a finding of bullying” under state law, the summary of Cerf’s decision states. In the court’s opinion, the incident was “an ordinary student conflict, rather than the more serious behavior of bullying.”

According to Superintendent Henry Bermannn, the Pittsgrove school staff reviewed the incident and, with the information staff had received, the district felt comfortable in reporting the behavior as bullying.

The board of education also reviewed the information surrounding the incident and agreed that it qualified as bullying, Bermann added.

“The staff did what they needed to do,” the superintendent said. “Those who looked into it were close to the situation, and they felt strongly that it was a bullying incident. When I reviewed the fact pattern, I concurred.”

The New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights took effect in fall 2011. Considered among the strictest anti-bullying legislation in the nation, the law was meant to curb incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying.

The new state law defines bullying as a conflict based on personal characteristics such as appearance, race, or ethnicity.

Bermann said Pittsgrove school officials, like those at other schools in the state, are still working through the new legislation to determine which incidents qualify as bullying and which do not.

In this instance, Bermann said, one of the students was much larger than the other which, among other facts, seemed to make it fit the state definition of bullying.

“Like with anything else, when there’s a new law in place, there are a variety of decisions you have to work through,” Bermann explained. “This gives us more clarification on the state’s perspective of what ‘bullying’ actually is.”

With at least 16 other cases from throughout the state sent to the commissioner for review, Bermann said the result of each decision would likely provide even more clarity.

Neither of the two Pittsgrove students faced disciplinary action or lost school time as a result of the incident. The matter between the two students was eventually resolved through a school counselor, the superintendent said.

The district board of education is expected to review the state’s decision at their next meeting and decide whether they’d like to appeal the ruling, although Bermann said an appeal is unlikely.

“My recommendation to the board will be that we don’t appeal,” Bermann said. “I don’t think there’s any value in appealing. There’s nothing to gain at the end of it.”

—
Contact staff writer Michael Williams at 856-935-1500 or michaelwilliams@southjerseymedia.com

Updated 05/16/2013 05:33 PM

By: Barry Wygel

A research team out of California is working to stop cyberbullying by mapping hateful tweets across the country. The team read through thousands of tweets and placed them on a Google map. As our Barry Wygel tells us, the places with the highest frequency of hateful tweets in our area may surprise you.

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UNITED STATES — It may look like some sort of weather map, but actually it shows tweets. Not just any tweets, but tweets deemed to be hateful or bigoted by a research team in California.

“So these are just looking at where the tweets are that are most hateful and hurtful. These are the communities where we see gay kids really struggling and needing projects like the ‘It Gets Better’ project,” said Dr. Monica Stephens from Humboldt State University.

Stephens says what makes her research special is that her team actually read every tweet to determine whether it was meant in a negative or positive way. Stephens says places that have high frequencies of hateful tweets, such as Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Massena, should use this as a wake-up call.

“They should be talking to their neighbors about it. They should be talking to their friends, having a conversation about are we doing what we can to support our LGBT members and our people of other races,” said Stephens.

Cyberbullying presents a unique challenge to those looking to fight against it. An attack might not be just one person against another. It may be against a group of people or it may even be anonymous.

“You really have to say what can we do individually or within a small group to make our community a better place,” said Shaili Singh, a member of the SUNY Potsdam Diversity in Action Coalition.

Community activists who work to combat cyberbullying say since social media is still new to the society there are some kinks that need to be worked out.

“I don’t think we really have an understanding of polite behavior and what are the rules and what are the consequences of some of those really inappropriate things,” said Singh.

As far as the hate map project, Stephens says her work is not over. She hopes to add demographic information to the map to help better understand why some areas produce more hateful tweets than others.

“This will look at statistical clustering, variables like education, income and racial diversity,” said Stephens.

Stephens also says her team plans to add more keywords to the project to increase the data.

If you would like more information about the Geography of Hate project or to see the map for yourself, visit users.humboldt.edu.

Pittsgrove Superintendent Henry Bermann is pictured in this file photo.

PITTSGROVE TWP. — An incident between two students determined to be an act of bullying by the Pittsgrove Township School District has been reversed by the state commissioner of education as a less serious altercation between children.

The overturned case marks the first time that Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has reversed a claim of bullying since New Jersey’s strict anti-bullying law was enacted about two years ago.

According to a synopsis of Cerf’s decision, the incident occurred in February 2012 when an eighth grade student identified as C.H. reportedly shoved a crumpled piece of paper down another student’s shirt.

C.H. and the other student had been involved in “an ongoing and unresolved conflict” leading up to the incident, the synopsis states.

After reviewing the incident according to new state guidelines, the Pittsgrove Township Board of Education filed a charge of bullying against C.H. A number of follow-up investigations ensued, as well as counter charges of bullying filed by C.H.

Administrative Law Judge W. Todd Miller eventually ruled that the incident did not amount to bullying or harassment as defined in state law.

In late April, Cerf affirmed the decision, finding the district’s allegations of bullying to be “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” rulings which “must be overturned.”

“[T]he conflict between these students did not contain the serious and aggravating elements necessary to a finding of bullying” under state law, the summary of Cerf’s decision states. In the court’s opinion, the incident was “an ordinary student conflict, rather than the more serious behavior of bullying.”

According to Superintendent Henry Bermannn, the Pittsgrove school staff reviewed the incident and, with the information staff had received, the district felt comfortable in reporting the behavior as bullying.

The board of education also reviewed the information surrounding the incident and agreed that it qualified as bullying, Bermann added.

“The staff did what they needed to do,” the superintendent said. “Those who looked into it were close to the situation, and they felt strongly that it was a bullying incident. When I reviewed the fact pattern, I concurred.”

The New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights took effect in fall 2011. Considered among the strictest anti-bullying legislation in the nation, the law was meant to curb incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying.

The new state law defines bullying as a conflict based on personal characteristics such as appearance, race, or ethnicity.

Bermann said Pittsgrove school officials, like those at other schools in the state, are still working through the new legislation to determine which incidents qualify as bullying and which do not.

In this instance, Bermann said, one of the students was much larger than the other which, among other facts, seemed to make it fit the state definition of bullying.

“Like with anything else, when there’s a new law in place, there are a variety of decisions you have to work through,” Bermann explained. “This gives us more clarification on the state’s perspective of what ‘bullying’ actually is.”

With at least 16 other cases from throughout the state sent to the commissioner for review, Bermann said the result of each decision would likely provide even more clarity.

Neither of the two Pittsgrove students faced disciplinary action or lost school time as a result of the incident. The matter between the two students was eventually resolved through a school counselor, the superintendent said.

The district board of education is expected to review the state’s decision at their next meeting and decide whether they’d like to appeal the ruling, although Bermann said an appeal is unlikely.

“My recommendation to the board will be that we don’t appeal,” Bermann said. “I don’t think there’s any value in appealing. There’s nothing to gain at the end of it.”

—
Contact staff writer Michael Williams at 856-935-1500 or michaelwilliams@southjerseymedia.com