School Bullying Council

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Beliebers know that their hero Justin Bieber cares about his fellow humans. He donates buckets of money to a variety of causes (Pencils of Promise is the most prominent, as well as his hometown food bank in Canada) and visits sick kids in the hospital. He’s certainly doing his part. That doesn’t mean that the Bieber backlash from the haters will ever stop.

Reddit posted a call for stories of regular people being bullied by celebrities and they got quite a few responses regarding actors, A-listers and more. There were a few stories about the Biebs that didn’t quite paint him as a bully, but the behavior is a bit unbecoming. It’s not substantiated other than by the sources that claim to have been the victim, but there are details. His former ‘CSI’ co-star Marg Helgenberger, who called him a brat, would likely say, “See, I told ya!” upon hearing these stories.

One person posted the following: “I was bullied by Justin Bieber (!!) back in 2006 while studying at Stratford Northwestern Public School. We did 7th grade. It didn’t bother me, I’m actually very happy to know that he’s famous because today he’s one of the most hated teenagers in the world.” Karma, right?

Another stated: “Justin Bieber used to play on my hockey team when he played in Stratford. He rarely passed and constantly called me a ‘homo or ‘f—’ when I didn’t pass to him. To keep it short, nobody here likes him.” Ouch!

Lastly, this one positions the Biebs as bratty. A source claimed, “This isn’t ‘bullying’, per se, but still a douche-y move. My friend works at the Apple store in the richest mall in Atlanta and Justin Bieber came in to buy a laptop. When he brought it up to the counter, he just threw a wad of cash at her and told her to count it out herself. She threw it back at him and refused to ring him up until he acted more respectful.” Hmm.

Again, these stories are face value and Beliebers can take ‘em or leave ‘em. Nobody is perfect and kids will be kids. That said, there’s no excuse for bad behavior and we’re not condoning any of these behaviors — and we’re right there with Lady Gaga as she works to stamp out bullying. So, if the Biebs did commit the offenses, shame on him and hopefully he’s matured and learned a lesson.

We’ve gotta give him props, though, as he cruises towards his 18th birthday in March. He’s being generous and kind with his time, using his incredible fame for good. He is generous and caring, and the good certainly seems to outweigh the bad.

http://popcrush.com/justin-bieber-bullying/

British Columbia is consulting education partners while planning tougher anti-bullying policies to improve school safety for all students, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).

Action was promised recently by Premier Christy Clark, who gained a reputation as an anti-bullying advocate while working as a talk-show host at CKNW radio, but details have not been released.

“My government is going to … do more to make sure that every child, as much as is possible, is protected from bullying in their school,â€� she told the legislature recently. “No matter what the cause or reason [for] that bullying, it is unacceptable.â€�

Clark described the issue as urgent, but the opposition NDP says she favours talk over action. It has challenged her to follow the lead of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who recently reached out to gay teens with his own “It Gets Better� video and introduced a bill requiring boards of education to develop anti-bullying policies, promote tolerance and support students who want gay-straight clubs— student-led alliances that support LGBT kids — in their schools.

McGuinty has been hit with a storm of protest from religious groups, and some say Clark should expect the same if she proposes an anti-bullying policy that pays special attention to LGBT students or requires gay-straight alliances in faith-based schools.

“We would be 100 per cent behind a policy or legislation that was against all forms of bullying,� said Doug Lauson, president of the Federation of Independent School Associations of B.C., in an interview Wednesday. “But to emphasize one form of bullying would be problematic.�

Lauson, who is also superintendent of Catholic independent schools, said none of his schools has a gay-straight alliance and he doesn’t believe they are necessary because Catholic schools have student councils to protect students’ rights.

On the other side of the debate is the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), which has been demanding better protection for LGBT student for years. Vice-president Glen Hansman said the union met with government officials recently to press for an anti-bullying policy in all schools that would pay particular attention to homophobic and racist bullying.

“While it is more comfortable for many to stay within the comfort zone of generic bullying, the effects of racist and homophobic harassment are very real for the people who are the targets … and racism and homophobia don’t get addressed if we only speak of bullying,â€� he said.

Only 15 of 60 B.C. school districts have policies that specifically address homophobia, the union says. That includes the Burnaby district, which introduced its new policy in the spring and faced angry protests from parents who insisted that the district provide equal protection for all victims of bullies.

They also said they feared the policy could lead to classroom lessons that conflict with their traditional family and religious values.

B.C.’s representative for children and youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, another influential voice, recently called on government to introduce a provincewide sexual-orientation and gender-identity policy for all schools to ensure LGBT students are supported and protected.

“We know LGBT youth, like all young people, have challenges in their lives,� Turpel-Lafond wrote in a letter to the premier. “We also know those challenges can be dramatically compounded by experiences of being bullied, discriminated against or abused. For LGBT youth, this abuse often takes place in a school environment, and that is unacceptable.

“We have a responsibility to do everything possible to make B.C. schools safe, welcoming places for all students.�

Hansman said schools need a cultural shift as well as an anti-bullying policy to ensure aboriginals, cultural minorities and LGBT people are depicted in lessons and learning resources.

“A proactive, clear message and a plan of action from the province on these matters would go a long way to ensuring positive movement on the part of schools and school districts that have been more reluctant, that have ignored racism or homophobia, or that have not done quite as much as they should have,� he said in an email.

In 2006, it appeared B.C. was moving in that direction when the government signed a deal to end a human-rights complaint from two gay activists, promising to inject gay-friendly lessons across the K-12 curriculum in public schools. But, Hansman said, the culture change that was expected after the Corren agreement still hasn’t happened. (Faith-based and other independent schools were unaffected by the deal.)

While Clark has not specified what action she has in mind, the Education Ministry issued a request for proposals Thursday from contractors capable of helping parents, teachers and administrators recognize and talk to children about bullying, and training school staff to create positive, safe environments for students.

jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com

Read more education news at vancouversun.com/reportcard

http://www.vancouversun.com/developing+tougher+anti+bullying+policy+schools/5867582/story.html

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Eccentric pop singer Lady Gaga, who basically invented her persona in a New Jersey studio, met with Obama administration officials at the White House Tuesday about their anti-bullying campaign.

Gaga has said that she was often picked on for being different as a child, according to Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. Jarrett said, according to MTV.com, “I am deeply moved by the way she has used her story and her success to inspire young people, and shine the spotlight on important issues.”

Jarrett mentioned that the White House held a conference on bullying earlier this year hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle. The White House has a “stop bullying” website, which takes a special look at cyberbullying and LGBT bullying. A new analysis of state bullying laws and policies showed that states have made some progress in addressing bullying, but more work remained.

E!Online reported that by going to the White House, the 25-year old Gaga kept a promise to 14-year-old fan Jamey Rodemeyer, who faced years of bullying about his sexuality before he took his own life in September. Gaga said that bullying should be illegal and a hate crime. Rodemeyer made a YouTube video called “It Gets Better,” where he spoke about his situation and his admiration of Gaga.

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/movies/lady-gagas-bullying-story-inspires-white-house-staffers

Editor’s note: Julie Hertzog is the director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center.

(CNN) — Tragic stories of young people committing suicide after being tormented by bullies have been widely publicized. So you’d imagine that most people would know how seriously bullying hurts people. Unfortunately, this is not always true.

Case in point: A middle-school athlete I know was being bullied by her teammates. The verbal abuse began on the volleyball court and then moved to the rest of the school. Soon, the girl’s teammates were pulling down her shorts in front of others to embarrass and ridicule her.

But she did the right thing: Knowing that she didn’t have to handle the situation alone, she told her parents. And her parents did the right thing: They alerted school personnel in an attempt to keep their daughter safe. Unfortunately, those who could have kept her safe told the parents that their daughter’s experiences were just typical middle-school behavior — the usual “teenage stuff” — and that nothing could or would be done.

Never mind that this seventh-grader is now nervous about attending school and her self-esteem has plummeted. Never mind that she wants to quit the volleyball team. The acceptance of bullying as a “rite of passage” failed her. She did not get the help she needed, and the parents are considering a new school for their daughter.

In this case, it was the school that refused to act, but sometimes students who are bullied have a difficult time finding anyone at all who will help. It is time for a cultural shift away from silence and acceptance and the excuse that “kids will be kids” and nothing can be done.

We need to understand we can and need to do something about bullying. The “we” in that statement is imperative. There is power in community.

Imagine a community in which students who witness bullying are encouraged to intervene. More than 55% of bullying behaviors stop in less than 10 seconds when a peer steps in. That’s why it’s important that schools and parents stress to children that by befriending a kid who is bullied, or by asking an adult for help, they can change — and even save — lives.

Imagine a community where students know that it is not their fault if they are bullied, they can feel free to talk about it and can expect to be helped.

Community members can join forces and make use of educational resources such as those at PACER.org/bullying, TeensAgainstBullying.org and KidsAgainstBullying.org. It won’t come from schools alone, parents alone or students alone, but from the entire community working in unity.

The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Julie Hertzog.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/14/opinion/hertzog-bullying/

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Ole Miss student Kelsey Ann Jackson survived a childhood of bullying, but the emotional scars are still very real to her.

“I’d rather be punched really hard in the face by a guy than ever be bullied again,” Jackson said. “Bruises and broken bones heal, but this will never leave me.”

The Brookhaven native described her girlhood days of bullying Tuesday during the University of Southern Mississippi’s Professional Development and Educational Outreach Safe Schools and Communities bullying symposium.

The symposium for educators, law enforcement officers and others who work with children continues today at Lake Terrace Convention Center.

With barely more than a dozen girls in Jackson’s class at a small private school, she said a hierarchy of bullying emerged, with a “queen bee” at the top.

She said while bullying often comes with a male connotation, the female version still exists and often can be much more hurtful due to its subtle personal attacks.

“Cellphones, Facebook, MySpace – that all makes it a lot worse,” she said.

Jackson’s mother, Jennifer Jackson, said parents can be part of the problem.

In the case of her daughter, Jennifer Jackson said the bully’s parents thought it was more important for their children to be popular than to be nice.

She also said the best way she found to remedy the bullying was to rebuild Kelsey’s self-esteem.

“I finally realized that I can’t fix that (bullying) – I’m going to have to fix her (Kelsey Jackson),” Jennifer Jackson said.

She said she still sees effects of the childhood years in her daughter.

“It does follow her, and I see it in different things,” she said.

Jennifer Jackson said her daughter complained of stomach problems while participating in rush for the sorority she later quit – the same stomach problems she complained of when nervous about the bullying she would experience at school.

Kelsey Jackson said she had to quit her sorority after they asked her to rush new pledges.

“That’s a bully situation if you ask me. … I couldn’t be a part of that,” she said.

The Jacksons delivered their presentation Tuesday to dozens of educators and those who work with children.

Grenada Police Department Capt. James Carver said he showed up for a different reason.

He said the Jacksons’ presentation helped him get some insight into bullying, which he said can often breed gang membership.

He said as bullies age, the search for a comfort zone sometimes leads to gangs and the criminal enterprise that comes along with them.

“I’m here now finding some kind of way to diffuse that,” he said.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20111005/NEWS01/110050311/Bullying-victim-shares-story-symposium

A Minnesota mother has been banned from her 10-year-old son’s school and bus stop after confronting two boys who had bullied him.

Last week, fifth grader Sovante Griffin told his mom, Tanya Sydney, that he was being bullied on the bus. Sydney said he told her the boys were hitting him, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. Sydney went to the bus stop the next day and confronted the bus driver.

She told the bus driver to be more vigilant. “He told me ‘I am doing the best I can, I can’t be in 50 million places at once,’” Sydney told CBS Minnesota.

Sydney then got on the bus and yelled at the two boys who had been bullying her son.

“Specifically to the two boys I said you need to keep your hands to yourselves,” she said.

The bus driver then kicked her off the bus. Sydney and Griffin then walked to Lake Nokomis Community School. Sydney said when they got to school they were met by the school’s police liaison officer, the principal and a transportation supervisor.

Sydney said the supervisor pulled out a picture of another African-American woman who he said caused a scene on a bus last year.

“That is when the transportation guy apologized and said ‘I assumed you were the woman from last year,’” she told CBS.

Her son and the two bullies later had to apologize to each other. But no apologies for Sydney, she got a letter from the principal saying she is banned from school grounds and the bus stop for the rest of the school year.

She has filed an appeal to the year-long ban with the Minneapolis School Board. Sydney says she does not regret her actions.

“There are too many stories of children getting bullied. I don’t want it to get to the point where he is scared to get on this bus and he can’t be successful,” she said.

Griffin has gotten back on the bus this week and has been going to school without incident. The school district released a statement on the matter last week, saying they can’t comment on the incident because of data privacy laws.

A spokesman did say: “It is not our protocol to allow parents or other adults to board school buses. Maintaining a safe and secure environment in the school district, including our school buses, is a top priority.”

What do you think? Should the mother have been banned?

Viewers serve up their thoughts on Facebook:

Shneia writes: “Then my child would be pulled from school, and home schooled. I think the schools are working this backwards. It’s not the parents that should be reprimanded it’s the bullies. This is why they keep doing what they want because schools just don’t care. I would pull my child out of school before I agree to stay away. That would never happen.”

Rick writes: I know parents want to step in, I would too, BUT we have to yield to the police and school admin to take care of it.

Get in on the dish. Send me your tweets: twitter.com/maggiesworld or emails: maggie@39online.com or comment on the Online Dish Facebook fan page.

http://www.fox26medford.com/entertainment/kiah-online-dish-mom-banned-from-sons-school-after-confronting-bullies-story,0,5871110.story

YORK, PA–(Marketwire – Jul 15, 2011) – Many students experience bullying during high school. For some, it may have occurred just once, but for others, it happens daily.

In an effort to dig deeper on the issue of bullying, StageofLife.com, a free blog and writing resource for teenagers, launched its national July student writing contest around the topic.

However, rather than asking adult experts to weigh in, StageofLife.com is instead taking essay submissions directly from teens who answer the writing contest prompt, “Have you ever been bullied, teased or picked on? If so, about what?”

So far, over 2,000 college and high school students have visited the StageofLife.com writing contest page. Hundreds of teens have answered the bullying survey and scores have entered the essay contest as they explore facets of bullying in their lives. Early essay submissions have come from students who were all bullied for a specific purpose, i.e. being fat, being bisexual, talking differently, being smart, being a girl, being a foreigner, and other reasons.

StageofLife.com CEO, Eric Thiegs, said, “Teens aren’t alone in their fight against bullying. Our hope is that one student’s essay will help another realize that there are others out there struggling with the same problem.”

In conjunction with the writing contest, StageofLife.com showcases resources for teens and parents from Learning Disabilities Association of America, American Disability Association, Stop Bullying, and bullying prevention videos from KidPower.org and LearntobeHealthy.org.

StageofLife.com’s writing contests deal with “real-world” teen issues. A teen trends page outlines observations learned from past writing contests as teenagers shared their thoughts about the media, education, prom, money, parents, marriage, stress, heroes, and other topics important to students.

Submissions for the bullying writing contest will be accepted through July 31, 2011 at Midnight PDT. One winner will be selected and will receive a prize package worth over $100 from sponsors KodakGallery.com, T-Shirts.com, and Comfort Research, along with SWAG and Featured Writer status from StageofLife.com.

StageofLife.com is a non-partisan, grassroots blog community hosting stories, resources and a free blog for all generations. It touts free lesson plans, writing contests, and My Life Rewards®, a free savings program providing printable coupons and coupon codes for every stage of life.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/teens-share-personal-stories-about-bullying-on-stageoflifecom-1538627.htm

AN ELDERLY victim of bullying and harassment in her public housing complex has been issued with an eviction notice after confronting one of her tormentors.

Just a week ago, 73-year-old Susan (not her real name) told the Daily that death threats, abuse and assaults were routine in the State Government-run apartments.

Only a day after publication, she received a “notice to remedy breach” from the state, warning that if she could not sort out the issue before July 9, she would have two weeks to pack up and leave.

The official letter states Susan had “interfered with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour”.

When she recalls how she felt forced to stand up to this apparent victim, anger creeps into her voice.

“(His visitor) gets drunk, kicks on people’s doors and yells abuse,” she said.

“Everyone has had a turn from him and he must have decided it was my turn.

“He was carrying on. He’s given death threats. People are afraid of this guy.”

But he did not count on what Susan described as her “righteous anger”.

“I got angry, and said, ‘How dare you come over and start abusing us’.

“You leave us alone.

“I’ve had enough of this and I’m reporting it.”

Police arrived soon after and the abusive “victim” fled from the rear of the complex.

It is understood police have been called to the apartments more than 20 times to deal with similar complaints.

Late last month, Susan joined a chorus of angry Department of Housing residents through the Daily, telling how their homes had taken on a hellish dimension.

Her son in Brisbane has joined the charge, labelling the harassment and abuse a form of terrorism.

But it appears that in the eyes of the state it is Susan – who has lived in the complex for 17 years – who is causing the problems.

“I rang the department and was told, ‘You had no right to abuse that visitor. How dare you’,” she said.

“Then the penny dropped. It’s not about the visitor, it’s about the story in the paper.

“Well she’s not going to shut me up.”

A spokeswoman for Housing Minister Karen Struthers said the department could not comment on individual cases due to privacy regulations but the notices were “normal practice”, not a way of targeting whistleblowers.

The story so far:

June 6: After no action from Dept of Housing, Susan confronted a neighbour’s abusive visitor and called police. She complained to the State Government but was told more people needed to back up her story.

June 15: A group of residents told the Daily that psychiatric patients, substance abusers and drug dealers were making life hell in a Department of Housing complex. Even after 11 complaints were made, nothing had been done.

June 27: Susan first speaks to the Daily, about assaults, abuse and even a car being torched by hooligans. She told of residents drinking, taking drugs and threatening neighbours.

June 29: Susan is given a “notice to remedy breach” for allegedly disturbing the peace for a neighbour’s visitor. It was a response to his drunken tirade. She has until July 9 to fix the issue or face eviction.

Today: Dept of Housing is yet to tell Susan what needs to be done before deadline.

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2011/07/04/bullied-victim-evicted-elderly-public-housing/

Garden City Middle School L.E.A.D.E.R.S. (Leave no one out; Empower yourself/stand up to the bully; Amuse with humor; Distract the bully; Enlist help; Rumors stop with you; Support the victim), students who take the topic of bullying very seriously, recently discussed the implications of physical bullying.

Discussions were guided by reading teacher and Anti-Bullying Club (ABC) advisor Kimberly Greenwald at the club’s June screening of The GCMS Early Show, a video members made to help educate about bullying. Social worker Noreen Bonagura shared in summarizing the year’s events. 

Ms. Greenwald and Ms. Bonagura led the LEADERS in the discussion of physical bullying. Each student was asked to write down at least one TV show or movie that included bullying and then discussed: Do TV shows encourage kids to bully? Why/Why not? The students watched several YouTube videos depicting bullying situations and identified the specific types of bullying they observed, identified the bystanders and discussed strategies to help the victims.

Students discussed why they thought New York State was one of the top 5 worst bullying states and asked how that statistic could be changed – turning a negative into a positive. Stories of how other students made a difference in their communities were distributed and the students were asked to create one activity to help reduce bullying. 

“Well, that created a hailstorm of activities,” commented Ms. Bonagura. “Each LEADER went back to their respective home bases, taught the lesson and talked about what they could do to make a difference at the middle school or in the community. The variety of ideas and activities that each home base came up with was tremendous. They included the following: one sixth-grade performed a play about stopping bullying and becoming upstanders instead of bystanders; students made videos or put on plays about bullying behaviors and how the middle school is a bully-free zone; students brought in supplies, collected money and shipped a care package to a school in Japan; collected monies, bought and decorated a recycling can for the cafeteria; wrote letters to the bus drivers thanking them for all that they do during the school year to keep them safe; and held bake sales, juice sales and candy sales during their lunch periods and raised money for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), Camp Anchor, the Mollie Biggane Melanoma Foundation, Memorial-Sloan Kettering, the Inn in Hempstead, the Cancer Center at Winthrop Hospital and the Red Cross.”

“To date,” Ms. Greenwald explained, “over $3,000 has been collected from these activities. Several of the home bases that raised the money contacted other charitable organizations and enlisted them to contribute a matching gift. When all was tallied up, we raised over $5,000 to send to these very worthy causes.”

During their last LEADERS lesson for the school year, Ms. Greenwald and Ms. Bonagura talked about “Paying it Forward” and “Acts of Kindness.”

“I truly feel that this year’s group of LEADERS embraced the activities presented, encouraged their classmates to implement a plan of action and the results speak for themselves,” Ms. Bonagura stated. “The students at Garden City Middle School had the ability to make a difference and they did. They inspired and empowered each other and are moving towards being a generation of ‘doers.’ These students recognized the need to do something, believed in their ability to get it done and got it done.”

http://gardencity.patch.com/articles/anti-bullying-kids-are-heroes

DVD Excerpt: Jeanne Blake: I’m Jeanne Blake. Sometimes bullying is dismissed as teasing or joking rather than the cruel behavior it really is. Now we understand that bullying can leave emotional scars that last a lifetime. It can even make young people feel as though they don’t want to live anymore. Bullying is cruel and happens all too often. That’s why more people are determined to prevent and stop bullying. Bullying can be verbal, physical, and carried out through technology, or cyberbullying

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Enlarge Silverdocs

The Bully Project follows stories of several kids who are being bullied or have been bullied.

Silverdocs

The Bully Project follows stories of several kids who are being bullied or have been bullied.

Director Lee Hirsch started filming The Bully Project in 2009, about a year before bullying fully came of age as a high-profile crisis with the launch of what became the It Gets Better project. (That’s not to say that’s when bullying started, obviously — it’s when the current wave of popular media coverage swelled after several awful stories of suicides by bullied kids.)

What The Bully Project adds to the public conversation is an unflinching look at the stakes. At its center is the family of Tyler Long, a 17-year-old who had just recently hanged himself in a closet when filming started. It follows his anguished parents as they launch a community discussion of bullying in the wake of his death that it certainly appears the school doesn’t want to have (they organize a town hall meeting, and plenty of kids and parents show up, but nobody from the school or the district).

The film also follows Alex, a 14-year-old who can be funny and comfortable at home, but who has been so relentlessly brutalized at school (his special zone of torment seems to be the bus) that he walks around looking shell-shocked and a bit lost, which seems to isolate him even more.

There are other kids in the story: Kelby, a young lesbian from Oklahoma whose father explains that after she came out, people he’d known for years started refusing to acknowledge him on the street; Ja’meya, a 14-year-old whose very difficult path represents the dangers of and to bullied kids who get fed up and decide to fight back; and Ty Field-Smalley, whose suicide at 11 years old — 11 years old — drives his father, too, into activism.

At times, The Bully Project is a pretty grueling experience, but it probably wouldn’t be fair if it weren’t. And it isn’t only the bullying that’s frustrating: We see Alex’s parents try to take their concerns (which are amplified after the filmmakers conclude that they’re obligated to tell them what’s happening on the bus) to the school. There, they have a bizarre meeting with an administrator who gives them precisely the pacifying “we’ll take care of it” speech that many of the parents in the film say they hear all the time right before nothing happens.

Unfortunately, by that point in the film, we’ve already seen that same administrator intervene in what certainly smells like a bullying situation by forcing the two boys involved to shake hands and later telling the one who’s complaining of being bullied that if he doesn’t shake hands and make up and really mean it, he’s just as bad as the bully. (She really says this. It’s almost surreal.)

It gives you a sense of what these families feel like they’re up against, although in fairness, the schools are up against quite a lot themselves. There’s a point where a local official tells the Longs that it’s extraordinarily difficult for the school to single-handedly stop destructive behaviors by a kid whose parents are reinforcing those behaviors at home. To the Longs, it feels (very understandably) like blame-shifting and refusing to do anything, but I felt some sympathy for the school, too, because … it’s probably true.

There aren’t any suggestions of easy solutions in The Bully Project; it’s more about driving home the need for everybody to keep trying by just standing as a reminder of what’s at stake. Kelby’s father says at one point that he never understood the expression “you never know what someone’s been through until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” until he had a gay child. The Bully Project can’t let you walk a mile in any of these people’s shoes, not by a longshot. But it can let you look at those shoes up close, maybe try them on. It’s not fun, but it’s well worth doing.

Note: The film has an online home at TheBullyProject.com, where there are extensive links to resources for kids and parents dealing with bullying and to the “grassroots movement” the film is intended to spur.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/06/23/137362129/the-bully-project-finds-its-moment

Recent CINE Golden Eagle Award Winner! Program presents three real-life stories from kids who were targets of cyberbullying attacks and offers viewers practical suggestions for how to avoid being victimized by this new, rapidly-spreading type of bullying. Each story highlights important tips such as: only post the type of information online that you would be comfortable with others seeing; remember that once an email or photo is posted online, you can’t take it back; avoid respo

(more…)

Updated May 31, 2011 21:45:00

Brodie Panlock killed herself after extreme bullying by workmates in 2006. (www.facebook.com)

The parents of a teenage waitress who killed herself after relentless taunting by workmates at a Melbourne cafe are taking their anti-bullying campaign to Canberra.

Workplace bullies in Victoria now face up to 10 years in jail after a new law was passed in State Parliament on Tuesday, but Damian and Rae Panlock want the legislation to go national.

The legislation, known as Brodie’s Law, was prompted by the death of 19-year-old Brodie Panlock, who killed herself after extreme bullying by workmates in 2006.

The new bill amends the stalking provisions of the Crimes Act to include cyber and workplace bullying, such as threats, abusive language and performing offensive acts.

Mr and Mrs Panlock were in the public gallery to watch Upper House MPs pass the bill.

Mr Panlock says the laws will not bring back his daughter, but will send a message to the community about the dangers of bullying.

“Any loss is disgusting and these people that we have gone through and seen in court and faced [are] just scum,” he said.

“They’re just low, low, low. Why do they do it? Why did they do it? We lost our daughter, people lose their children.

“It’s not just the person that they do it to – which is the worst thing – it’s the families … the whole gamut; they all feel it in different ways of course.”

Mrs Panlock says she hopes the new laws will draw attention to the damage caused by bullying.

“I think it sends a clear message that bullying is a cowardly act and it won’t be tolerated,” she said.

“If you’re going to engage in this sort of behaviour, you’ve got the consequence of ending up in jail.”

And Mr Panlock says the family was talking to federal MPs to see what could be done nationally to stamp out bullying.

The couple hailed the passage of the bill as a victory but said they would like to see other Australian states follow Victoria’s example.

Ms Panlock says the bill sent a clear message that those engaging in bullying now faced jail.

“Instead of investigators from WorkSafe coming out to your workplace, now you’ll have police officers,” Ms Panlock told reporters.

“I just hope no family ever have to go through anything like this again.

“People have got to realise that when they engage in this sort of bullying they really are … they drive them (victims) to the edge and they push them over.”

Brodie Panlock jumped to her death after she was abused by colleagues who poured beer and oil on her, spat on her and offered her rat poison after an earlier failed suicide attempt.

Brodie’s three tormenters, Nicholas Smallwood, Rhys MacAlpine and Gabriel Toomey, were convicted under occupational health and safety laws and fined a total of $85,000, while cafe owner Marc Luis Da Cruz and his company were ordered to pay $250,000.

But, in accordance with the law at the time, none were jailed.

- ABC/AAP

Tags:
education, bullying, law-crime-and-justice, laws, australia, vic

First posted May 31, 2011 20:39:00

MORE stories from Victoria

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/31/3232099.htm

CLEVELAND — About 400 Cleveland high school students argued the fictional case of a bullied student in this year’s ‘Mock Trial’ competition at the Justice Center Friday.

It’s the 15th year for the competition, and this time students from 11 high schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District were taking part.

They argued a case involving a bullied student who brought a weapon to school for self-defense. The theme was developed by Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lauren C. Moore.

She talked to the students about one of the most important issues in their lives and at their schools.

“It is bullying. It is insensitivity. It is incivility to each other and we’ve got to stop it,” the judge said.

At the mock trial, teams from the various schools debated whether a fictional student who had been bullied should be convicted of bringing a knife to school to defend himself, should the bully attack him again.

Several Cleveland Municipal Court judges judged the competition, as did Jan Mohat, the mother of a 17-year-old Mentor High School student who took his own life in 2007 after being constantly bullied.

“He was so abused that, on the day he killed himself,” Jan Mohat told the students, ”the bully went up to him and said, ‘Eric why don’t you go home and shoot yourself, it’s not like anyone would care.’ And he did. And his sister found him.”

The students listened in silence to Mohat’s description of the abuse her son endured day after day before he ended his own life.

“People that bully, they need to look inside themselves and see what they are doing is wrong,” said John Hay High School sophomore Autumn Jefferson. ”That’s just a terrible thing to do.”

Glenville High School tenth grader Desmond Barrett agreed. He admitted to having been bullied since the fifth grade.

Barrett, who acted as an assistant prosecutor on one of the student teams at the competition, told WKYC, “I’m not going to lie to you. You try to deal with it, you try to shove it off, but you can’t. It’s a problem and you can face it sometimes, but sometimes you can’t.”

Barrett thoughtfully reflected on the story of Eric Mohat.

“That’s very sad and I don’t know how anybody could do through anything like that,” he said softly. “And I don’t think anybody should ever be bullied at any time in their life. My heart goes out to his famiy.”

The students who took part in the mock trial also signed an Anti-Bullying Pledge that encourages them, among other things, to report bullying immediately any time they see it.

Winners of the trial competition for 2011 were members of team Alpha, from the Cleveland School of the Arts.

WKYC-TV

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http://www.wkyc.com/news/education/article/188776/35/Cleveland-Mock-trial-for-high-school-bullying-case

Young victims of bullying shared their stories yesterday with state officials and lawmakers at a State House forum.

“The source of my strength came from knowing I was not alone,” said Victor Gonzalez, a 19-year-old Bucknell University sophomore from Boston.

In middle school, Gonzalez recalled, he was called a “dirty Mexican” who would never amount to anything.

His teachers told him to ignore it, he said, but when the name-calling escalated to threats and violence, his mother intervened.

Gonzalez was one of four young people featured in “Bullying: True Stories,” a new film screened at yesterday’s forum, which was co-sponsored by Partners HealthCare and the state.

“Bullying is no longer considered a harmless rite of passage or just a part of growing up,” said Barbara Leadholm, state mental health commissioner. “We must address the issue for what it is — a destructive imbalance of power — and offer support to both the young people who are being bullies and the bullies themselves.”

The issue came under the spotlight last May, when Gov. Deval Patrick signed anti-bullying legislation in the wake of the suicides of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old in South Hadley, and Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old Springfield student.

The 11-month-old law’s provisions include mandates that districts implement an anti-bullying curriculum and training for school staff.

“A safe and positive learning environment is every bit as important as the quality of a teacher,” state Rep. Marty Walz, a Back Bay Democrat and the law’s chief author, told about 500 educators, health-care providers and young people.

Click here to watch a film on bullying.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1334112&position=4

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“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

This is probably the worst quote I have ever heard.

Bullying continues to be a big problem in America. This intentional act of aggression is meant to cause embarrassment and physical or emotional pain.

This school year alone in the U.S., several teens have committed suicide because bullying was too much for them to handle. These suicides have been called “bullycide” — suicides committed because of bullying.

Bullying can be more than just physical harassment. It can take on verbal, nonverbal and digital forms, too. Words can hurt as much as, if not more, than physical action. Bullying causes anxiety, loss of self-esteem and confidence, depression, suicidal thinking and fear of going to school.

Every day, 160,000 students in the U.S. stay home from school to avoid being bullied.

The pain and embarrassment of bullying can follow victims throughout their lives.

Kids are bullied for many reasons. They can be bullied because of how they look, their clothes, sexual orientation, religion, beliefs, weight or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. Often victims are afraid to report the harassment.

Unfortunately, unless bullying is reported, school staff and parents remain unaware of the problem.

The Montana Legislature is currently considering a bill that will make sure that schools do not ignore bullying incidents that are reported.

Pam Kampfer, school counselor at North Middle School, feels the intention of such a bill is to promote safe schools, to assure that prevention programs are in place, and to make sure reported incidents are taken seriously.

I feel this will help schools and students because it will discourage bullying. This bill also will help provide kids peace of mind that they will be able to report bullying and not have it ignored.

It will also bring light to cyberbullying.

“Schools can no longer ignore cyberbullying just because it may happen outside of the school day,” Kampfer said “Cyberbullying comes to school every day. Cyberbullying is a 24/7 problem. Cyberbullying can cause even more distress than other types of bullying. It is often anonymous and incessant.”

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20110404/LIFESTYLE/104040308/Bullying-exists-we-must-do-what-we-can-stop-including-new-legislation?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s

(CBS News) 

In Australia, a bullying victim has become an Internet hero after he turned the tables on his tormentor. And it was all caught on tape Monday.

Casey Heynes is seen backed up against a wall, being punched several times by a younger, smaller boy.

Suddenly, Casey body-slams the alleged bully, sending him scampering off.

Special Section: Eye on Parenting
Obamas crusade to stop bullying

Footage of the fight at Chifley College, Dunheved Campus at North St. Mary’s has since gone viral, with hundreds of comments garnered on Facebook — many in support of Casey.

According to the Sydney Telegraph, both students were suspended for four days after the incident.

Casey’s father told the Australian publication on Tuesday his son had been the victim of bullying for several years and feared for his safety if he spoke about the fight.

“There’ll be reprisals from other kids in the school and he still has to go to school somewhere,” he said.

“He’s not a violent kid; it’s the first time he’s lashed out and I don’t want him to be victimized over that.

“He’s always been taught never to hit. Apparently, other people’s parents don’t teach their kids that.”

One student interviewed by the Sydney Telegraph said, “People pick on (Casey) every single day, they hit him around and stuff, and he just got sick of it and let out the anger.”

As for the student Casey body-slammed, according to New South Wales Department of Education and Training spokeswoman, he suffered a grazed knee in the incident.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/earlyshow/living/parenting/main20043808.shtml

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A local student who has been the victim of bullying attacks because of his physical disabilities met the president Thursday to advocate for change.

Homer High School sophomore Ian Forster, 16, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and paralysis on his right side that makes it difficult to walk.

Parents Tadd and Melissa Porter said their son had been putting up with the verbal abuse since he was in middle school, but the bullying took an especially dangerous turn in December.

Two students tripped him, pinned him to the ground and stepped on his shunt, a delicate tube that helps drain excess fluid from his brain, the family alleges.

“It could have killed me,” Forster said.

That was when he and his parents said enough was enough.

The Porters’ fight for their son’s rights has led them all the way to the White House.

The nonprofit Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service sent him to Washington, D.C., this week and has advocated for his fair treatment in school along with The National Organization on Disability.

Forster and others met President Barack Obama Thursday to advocate for changes that will prevent bullying in schools and online.

About one in three middle and high school students report being bullied, according to this week’s White House Conference on Preventing Bullying.

Obama shared his own stories of being bullied as a child for having big ears and an odd name.

Forster also met U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg and briefly with U.S. Sen. Carl Levin on Wednesday.

Schools are sometimes ill-equipped to handle true bullying issues, Tadd Porter said. They often lack the funding and know-how to swiftly deal with it.

Homer Community Schools has made strides to prevent bullying, Superintendent Rob Ridgeway said.

Last fall the district hosted Kimber Bishop-Yanke, a bullying expert, to talk to students and staff about how to recognize bullying and what victims and bystanders should do, he said. To help prevent cyber bullying, students are not allowed to use cell phones during school hours.

“I believe education is the key to preventing bullying,” Ridgeway said.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110311/NEWS01/103110311