School Bullying Council

The documentary starts with David Young. He explains how bullies drove their high school age son, Tyler, to suicide. From there, writer/director Lee Hirsch’s film follows other kids experiencing a similar fate.

– Local show times, theaters, trailer.

Some die. Some don’t. All suffer.

Much of the focus of the film is Alex, a sweet-natured teen who’s mentally a little slower than his classmates. A docile disposition and odd looks make Alex a fertile ground for violence.

He’s bullied on the bus; choked, hit and stabbed. Finally, Hirsch and his crew share the bus video with school administrators and the boy’s parents.

The assistant principal of the school and the parents meet. As the woman attempts to mollify Alex’s parents and explain there is no problem, I yelled at the screen.

A couple of times. And loudly.

She’s ridden the bus, too, she says. The kids were all angels. No, duh! You’re the vice-principal of the school. The kids know who you are. And the parents? They just sit there. Mom cries. Dad is silent. They’re not happy with the woman’s answer but leave with very little protest.

I yelled at them, too. Maybe more loudly.

Bully is difficult to watch. It’s hard to focus on poor Alex as he takes a pounding and then see the inept response by his parents and those in authority. In one confrontation, the boy tells his mother that those are his friends and if he doesn’t let them wail away on him, he’ll have no friends. She hears this and sits silent.

I yelled then, too.

Even tougher is watching the devastated mother of an 11-year old that killed himself. She will tear your heart out. The boy’s father notes they’re nobodies. If the child of someone rich and important killed themselves because of bullying, he says reaction by the media and society would be swift.

He might be right. But whatever outcry comes from it, once it is no longer a hot headline, the fire fades and you have a dead child, a devastated family and then — nothing.

Bully is an important movie. Everyone should see it. As important as it is, and as powerful as its story, Bully has flaws. Too many to go unmentioned.

Bully dances all around the problem but fails to explore why. Bullies aren’t interviewed. Experts in the psychology of bullying are left out. Potential causes of what looks like an increase in bullying are ignored.

Unmentioned is the ever-growing violence featured in video games, movies and television shows, and then there’s a society that embraces and seemingly idolizes bad behavior. Missed is the anonymity of the internet and how it is used for mocking and attack. There are single-parent families where kids are barely supervised or completely ignored. The film does note that some parents simply ignore what their children do. What Bully doesn’t do is run with it.

Most disturbing is how such behaviors seem to have no serious consequences for those perpetrating violence on their otherwise helpless classmates. No consequences. No accountability. No answers. No suggestions. Nothing.

Adult after adult in the film appear as helpless and clueless about what to do about children bullying other children. That is as chilling as the bullying. And it, too, is not addressed.

Bully left me wanting more. Hirsch’s film — by its very nature — demands more complete answers.

This is not to say that there are no answers. A town hall meeting in the middle of the film and work featured near the movie’s end by the parents of victims are positive. They are organizing. Spreading the word. Reaching out to students that care, to educators and parents.

This is a good thing.

Also noteworthy is how the Motion Picture Association of America argued about the movie’s rating. To get it to a PG-13 so kids can see it with their parents or other adults, key scenes had to be altered and modified. That removed a lot of the power from the message.

Language was an issue. Does the MPAA believe school kids seeing this movie have never heard the language used by the children abusing other children? That’s ridiculous. Does the MPAA believe it’s too violent for their precious little eyes? Children in today’s schools are well aware of that violence. They see it daily on TV and on video games, and more importantly, they see it in their schools and with their friends.

Sanitizing this film is a travesty. Maybe the producers will leave their original cut intact when they release the DVD. And ultimately, this is how most people will end up experiencing this movie.

Until then we have this version. Take your kids. Educators, go see this. Bully deserves to be seen. It must be seen.

Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars

Rated PG-13 for mature themes and violence. It is playing at the Carmike 12.

5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.

.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/04/2508601/bully-ranks-as-2012s-first-must.html

(Shutterstock)

School bullies are more likely to smoke cigarettes and pot and drink booze, according to a new study out of Ohio State University.

Researchers conducted a survey of 74,247 middle school and high school students at public, private and Catholic schools in Ohio. The 152-question poll asked participants about bullying-type behaviours — perpetrated and received — as well as use of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana. “Users” were defined as anyone who reported partaking at least once a month.

“Our findings suggest that one deviant behaviour may be related to another,” assistant professor Kisha Radliff said.

About 30% of those in middle school were bullies or bully-victims (i.e. both a bully and a victim), the study found. And between those two groups combined, 17.5% reported smoking pot, versus only 1.6% in the group not involved in bullying.

About 23% of those in high school were bullies or bully-victims, and nearly 61% of them were marijuana users.

But while the findings suggest bullies might be more likely to use drugs, the reverse may also be true: youth who use drugs may be more likely to be bullies.

Similar results were found for alcohol and cigarette use, the researchers said in a news release about the study, which appears in the April issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors.

“That suggests there is a relationship between experimenting with substances and engaging in bullying behaviour,” Radliff said.

The researchers also found a link, though not as strong, between substance use and the victims of bullying.

http://lifewise.canoe.ca/Parenting/2012/03/05/19461686.html

Two teens at a Bensonhurst high school are being bullied so badly they want to transfer out – but Education Dept. officials won’t let them, they said.

Nicolle Druzhenko, 15, and Viktoria Gvozdik, 14, begged to leave John Dewey High School for a transfer but said they were denied by a city Education Dept. official who told them their wasn’t enough evidence of physical abuse – just cyberbullying.

The girls were told Dewey officials would take care of the problem which started in December.

Druzhenko and Gvozdik say little has been done – and now they aren’t going to class until they find a new school.

“I’m scared. No one is helping us,” said Druzhenko. “We tried to change schools and they just put us down.”

Gvozdik added she doesn’t “

feel comfortable going [to school]. I don’t think they are taking care of it at all.”

Druzhenko and Gvozdik started getting tormented by at least three other students who have shoved them in the hallways and stairs; and spit on and cursed at them.

The bullies have also waited for both girls after school to chase them home.

They’ve also posted nasty messages on Druzhenko and Gvozdik’s Facebook pages including passages such as, “It’s f*cking termination on sight for you p*ta. It’s over for you and that’s not a threat it’s a promise.”

The tormenters were suspended for a week in January. But the behavior started again when they returned to school.

Both Druzhenko and Gvozdik filled out paper work at the high school on Monday hoping to escape their tormentors but were told Tuesday there wasn’t enough evidence of physical abuse.

Education Dept. officials said they were reviewing the matter. “We obviously take accusations of bullying very seriously and are reviewing the situation,” said DOE spokesman Frank Thomas.

Relatives of the students said they’ve seen the bullies in action.

“I went to pick them up and they were waiting by the train station – four of them,” said Gvozdik older brother, Ruslan, 21. “My sister was screaming and crying and they were yelling at her. I don’t want this to happen to her.”

Druzhenko’s older sister Anna went to the school last month to talk with school administrators to see what could be done. She was shocked to see the bullies curse out her younger sister right in front of her.

“They told us they would take care of this and they would suspend them but it just continued without stopping,” said Anna.

“These are serious confrontations,” she said. “They’re afraid to go to that school.”

mmorales@nydailynews.com

Twitter.com/NYDNMarkMorales

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/bullied-teens-john-dewey-high-school-article-1.1030885

After a scathing exposé about gay students and suicide, a school board struggles to protect students from bullying without irking social conservatives.

AP Images

In the wake of a Rolling Stone story that depicted its campus communities as terrifying places to be a gay student, the school board of
Minnesota’s largest school district
has overturned a policy that required teachers to remain neutral during classroom discussions related to sexual orientation.

Some critics of the policy said it was actually feeding the flames of homophobic cruelty in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, which was stunned by a
rash of student suicides by teens whose families say were victims of intense bullying. 

In Utah, a Stinging Debate Over Sex Education

Teacher Policies: How Does Your State Rate?

Taking the Bully By the Horns

Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s  comprehensive and emotionally charged narrative painted a
picture of a school system where students openly mocked their peers who were thought to be gay. For some of the students, the hostile environments
seemed to have become unbearable: Nine students committed suicide during a two-year period, beginning in 2009. 

According to Erdely’s reporting, the district’s now-overturned policy had been crafted “to not only help teachers navigate a topic as inflammatory as
homosexuality but to appease the area’s evangelical activists.”

The story prompted a backlash by the Anoka-Hennepin administration, which argued it had been unfairly depicted as unresponsive to allegations of bullying and
failing to help students in crisis.

Erdely also focused on the Parents Action League, organized by conservatives living in the Anoka-Hennepin district, which opposed dropping the
so-called “neutrality policy.” In a written statement posted on the Parents Action League’s website, the group states that “the theme of ‘school safety’ is being used as a
pretext to advance a much broader agenda: the legitimization of homosexuality and related conduct to impressionable schoolchildren.”

Parents Action League president Laurie Thompson said Erdely “offered no proof that evangelicals or the district’s policy had anything to do with the
student suicides or bullying,” according to a St. Paul  Pioneer Press story about how the local community was handling the unflattering
glare of the national spotlight. (In the same story Erdely defended her reporting, which encompassed dozens over interviews over a four-month period.
The mother of one of the teens who committed suicide also told the Pioneer Press she believed Erdely’s story was accurate.)

But Thompson told the Pioneer Press that Erdely had “repeated and amplified the most biased and unverifiable rumors regarding bullying” to
reflect “another agenda altogether — attacking evangelical Christians and portraying them as unreasonable bigots.”

I asked Erdely what she thought of the school board’s decision to drop the controversial policy, and replace it with one intended to support
considerate classroom discussions when volatile topics arise.

“They’re finally digging out from their denial,” said Erdely. “I think they’ve been trying for a long time to convince themselves that the neutrality
policy was harmless, but it was actually anything but harmless.” 

Hopefully, Erdely said, the new policy “sends a signal they intend to do better.” 

School districts nationally are struggling to craft anti-bullying policies that address the underlying societal issues without becoming a burden for
educators to implement. That’s a tough balance to strike, as lawmakers are discovering.

In New Jersey, the state’s school administrators’ union has pushed back against a new law that sets comprehensive mandates not only to prevent bullying
but also to sanction educators who don’t do enough to stop it. 

Under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, New Jersey schools must have an “anti-bullying specialist” designated to investigate allegations, and each
district must have an “anti-bullying coordinator.” Efforts at the campus and district level will be monitored by the New Jersey Education Department,
and educators who fall short will be putting their licenses at risk. 

“I think this has gone well overboard,” Richard G. Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators,  told the New York Times
. “Now we have to police the community 24 hours a day. Where are the people and the resources to do this?” 

To be sure, schools are being asked to do more with less. However, campuses are microcosms of society, and what students learn in their classrooms and
hallways  — as well as at home –  is reflected in their behavior in the outside world. For educators, this responsibility might well be an unfair
burden. But for students struggling to respect each other’s differences, that effort could be their best hope. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/02/in-minnesota-a-school-district-overturns-its-policy-of-silence/253129/

School Bullying and Depression Linked in Adolescents

Depression puts adolescents at increased risk for bullying: Photo by Sasha Wolff

Are victimized kids depressed because they’re bullied, or bullied because they’re depressed?

Bullying has become a hot topic in American society. State legislatures have passed anti-bullying laws attempting to crack down on the problem in schools, as social media sites have come under fire for cyber-bullying issues online, and parents have become more concerned with protecting their children from bullying everywhere. With so much attention focused on the aftermath of harassment, teasing, and even violence among kids, however, little has been paid to the potential causes of the behavior.

New Study Examines Causes Of Bullying

Dr. Karen Kochel, an assistant research professor at Arizona State University’s School of Social and Family Dynamics, performed a longitudinal study examining rates of bullying and depression in children grades 4 through 6. In the study, children were monitored by parents and teachers for behavioral indicators of depression. Parents and teachers were also keeping track of instances of bullying, such as gossiping, verbal or physical altercations, and name-calling.

In the study, Dr. Kochel found that depression was present before instances of bullying. Decoded Science asked her the most surprising aspects of her research, and she stated,

This study’s main findings – that depressive symptoms contributed to the development of peer relationship difficulties – were unexpected given that the bulk of prior work supports the opposite direction of association (i.e., that peer difficulties drive depression). We certainly cannot rule out the possibility that some forms of peer relationships contribute to depression among some samples of youth, or the possibility that depression and peer relationship problems are cyclically related. Our study results, however, do not provide support for these perspectives. 

Click to Read Page Two: Conventional Wisdom and Anti-Bullying Laws

// ]]/*]]*/

Pages: 1 2

Tags: bullying and depression, bullying causes depression
Posted in Headlines, Social Sciences | No Comments »

• 
  Facebook
• 
  Twitter

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

http://www.decodedscience.com/school-bullying-and-depression-linked-in-adolescents/10476

HELP Saveasoulsavetheworld.com REDUCE THE STATISTICS of bullied victims and bully-related suicides!

(more…)

Ethics Case Cyber Bullying

(more…)

Earlier in the week, I posted about Jim Whitney, a teacher at Joplin High School in Missouri, whose anti-gay remarks on Facebook were brought to light. Whitney was commenting on a former student’s link to an article about gay teen bullying victim JAmie Hubley, who committed suicide earlier this month.

Said Whitney: “Moral of the story: Don’t be gay.”

When another commenter asked, “How many more kids have to kill themselves before everyone realizes that this is an actual issue?,” Whitney responded, “11-13 ought to do it. Somewhere in that vicinity.”

The school now says Whitney has been cleared, and claims his Facebook was hacked:

“We’ve investigated and found no wrong-doing on the part of the teacher.”

Joplin Superintendent Doctor CJ Huff tells News Talk KZRG complaints were made about things high school math teacher Jim Whitney allegedly posted on Facebook. But apparently Whitney’s Facebook account was hacked.

“It’s unfortunate when you’re dealing with social media and dealing with technology and the potential for people to get on to other people’s accounts and say things that shouldn’t be said.”

Huff says the Joplin School Board was made aware of the situation at Tuesday’s board meeting and no action was taken.

Do you believe them?

If you thought your account was hacked, wouldn’t you say so right from the start?

Whitney’s original statement to the press didn’t: “I do not condone bullying or harassment of any kind and I am very aware and saddened by the negative impact this type of behavior creates. I regret that the posts appeared on Facebook. They do not reflect my personal views and I apologize for any and all offenses caused by the comment.”

Posted 9:12 AM EST by Andy Towle in Bullying, Facebook, News |
Permalink

<!–

googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-3′); });

–>

This post’s comment feed

Comments

1. 
   

   Another student is quoted is stating that these remarks were out-of-character from this teacher. I’d be more inclined to believe it if there was a confirmation from FaceBook, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see what happens from here on and if there are other incidents involving this teacher.

   Posted by: Alex Parrish | Oct 28, 2011 9:18:12 AM

2. 
   

   Situations like this are always hard to judge. He could be just covering his tracks, but then again, Facebook isn’t exactly known for its security.

   Posted by: LiamB | Oct 28, 2011 9:29:10 AM

3. 
   

   Didn’t Weiner say his account was hacked too?

   Posted by: Brian G | Oct 28, 2011 9:29:43 AM

4. 
   

   So somebody just happened to “hack” his Facebook account, happened to find one post about teen suicide, then “happened” to have a “reasonably adult” (if disgusting) back and forth with another poster…and then just left? So this will be the new defense. Someone hacked my Facebook account. Pathetic.

   Posted by: Michaelandfred | Oct 28, 2011 9:34:30 AM

5. 
   

   Hmm. I wonder if maybe his wife or kid said it and he was shielding them?

   Posted by: enough already | Oct 28, 2011 9:35:14 AM

6. 
   

   Sorry, doesn’t pass the smell test. Let’s see if there are any further developments. I’d like proof the account was hacked, a statement from Facebook or cyber-investigator.

   Posted by: Bob R | Oct 28, 2011 9:47:02 AM

7. 
   

   It doesn’t really matter whether he’s lying or not, does it? In either case, public homophobia has been shown to have consequences, and that’s clearly a message this teacher has absorbed.

   Posted by: Keppler | Oct 28, 2011 10:03:08 AM

8. 
   

   I guess that will be the blanket excuse now, “my account was hacked”! If I was an intellenget teacher, I think that I could come up with something better. Although, a lot of teacher’s don’t have to think for themselves anymore, that have the state and federal government to tell them what to think, so originality is not in there job description. To bad in the 21st century, that we still have this backwoods mentality. So Sad!

   Posted by: Randy | Oct 28, 2011 10:03:25 AM

9. 
   

   @Randy:

   Not sure where your assault on teachers is coming from, but the amount of spelling and grammatical mistakes in your post tells me that your animosity toward them is not a recent thing.

   Posted by: Zell | Oct 28, 2011 10:12:35 AM

10. 
    

    Hacked, you say? So you received an email/text message from Facebook clearly stating “(name of machine)” logged in to your Facebook account at (time). If this was not authorized, check your email for instructions.” right? Right?

    I didn’t think so. The “hacked” defense doesn’t apply here.

    Posted by: Shullbit | Oct 28, 2011 10:14:47 AM

11. 
    

    I’d trust the people who know him to say whether it passes the smell test. I’ll say this though: I know people who inadvertantly leave themselves logged into facebook on shared work computers. My younger brother and friends of his often post things on each others’ accounts (though they are invariably funny, not offensive). I could easily imagine a student who found a teachers he or she didn’t like logged into their facebook account on a computer in school and doing this, especially given the headlines from teachers in Florida and NJ who did just this. If the people who know him say that this is completely out of character, I’d say that’s a reasonable explanation for what happened.

    Posted by: Dan E | Oct 28, 2011 10:42:08 AM

12. 
    

    Typical liberals. Whitney doesn’t receive his “innocent until proven guilty” rights? Nice double standard. How about you wait until the truth is known (if ever) before you pass your self-righteous judgement. You claim to promote equality for all, but deny it to him? Please explain that.

    Posted by: David | Oct 28, 2011 10:52:15 AM

Post a comment

http://www.towleroad.com/2011/10/joplin-mo-teacher-who-said-more-gay-kids-need-to-die-is-cleared-claims-account-was-hacked.html

Dr. Bikkar Singh Lalli

The wave of shocking suicides by teenagers, who were allegedly being bullied and sexually harassed, have stunned many parents, schools authorities, lawmakers and communities. Lady Gaga has started pushing for legislation to outlaw bullying after a 14 year old Jamey Rodermeyer, from Buffalo New York, committed suicide on Sept. 18.  He was bullied for because of his perceived sexuality. In the same week, in Mississauga, a 16 year-old boy killed his best friend and then jumped off an overpass. On Sept. 26.  Jeff Klein, a New York democratic senator, introduced a new “Cyberbullying Bill” in the senate. He says that “outdated pre-digital harassment laws fail to punish bullies who use the Internet and smart phones to torment others”.  Thirty three states already have laws dealing with online harassment.

What is Cyberbullying? “Cyberbullying is any harassment that occurs via the Internet. Vicious forum posts, name calling in chat rooms, posting fake profiles on web sites, and sending cruel email messages, are all ways of cyberbullying”. It is easier to bully in cyberspace than it is to bully face to face. Children these days are well versed in the use of electronic gadgets and net-communications. They use text messages and instant messages routinely. They blog; they socialize on Facebook. So, no wonder they bully each other electronically. Educators, lawmakers, parents, and police in Canada are now grappling with the way to respond to cyberbullying/sexting. So far the approach has been mainly education rather than prosecution. The province of Nova Scotia has set up a Task Force, with Professor Wayne Mackay as chair, and with members from Teachers’ union, School Boards Association and Association of School Administrators, to study the bullying problem inside and outside the schools and in the wider community. A final report is expected in December 2011.

“Suicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers in Canada, and the start of the school is a particularly high-risk time for vulnerable youth” (Globe and Mail-Sept.24, 2011). According to University of Toronto psychologist Darcy Santor, 91 per cent of suicides victims are suffering from some sort of mental illness possibly caused by depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, bullying, social isolation and some other factors, at the time of deaths. In a study by MTV/Associated Press, released on Sept. 27, 2011, it is revealed that more than half of the respondents have been the target of mean behaviour or fake gossip on social-networking sites or text messages.

Teens in today’s society have easy access to cell phones, with three out of every four owning them. Sending and receiving text messages via one’s cell phone has become extremely popular. It is estimated that a teen sends or receives, on average, 3000 text messages each month. In a bullying survey (Ethics of American Youth Survey-Oct.2010), half of U.S. High schoolers say they have bullied or harassed someone at least once in the past year and nearly half say they have been bullied in that time; 19 per cent of teens aged 13-19 had sent a sexually-suggestive picture or video of themselves to someone via e-mail, cell phone or through other online interaction, while 31 per cent had received a nude or semi-nude picture from someone. Built-in digital cameras in cell phones have added a new dimension to the problem. Over half (52 per cent) of teenagers, who are targets of cyberbullying, never actually report it.

A search for solutions cannot be boiled down to passing new legislation or blaming everything from school to technology. Attitudes can never be legislated. A radical shift in cultural norms needs to happen for long-term change to take hold. Children who are bullied often experience low self-esteem and depression. Bullies, who often have been bullied themselves, may pick on others to feel powerful, popular, or in control.

As a parent try your best to bully-proof your teenager. First, it is imperative that you find out if your child is going trough any problems at school or at play grounds. There are some of the indicators or signals which should help you in drawing some conclusions. Is your child inventing some mysterious illnesses to avoid school, for example, stomach aches, headaches etc? In US, it is estimated that 160,000 students miss school everyday due to fear of bullying by other students. Do you find any missing belongings, like money, jacket from your child’s possession? Poor performance in school, lack of concentration in doing home work, irritable mood, desire to be left alone, are some of the indicators parents should look for.

Help your children in developing social skills and the art of helpful socialization. By teaching them family values you can you can give a boost to their self-esteem, self-confidence and help them in regaining the damaged dignity. Tell your teenager to act brave, walk away and ignore the bully. With their input develop some guidelines for using screen technology. Your teenager should not take cell phone to his bed room after certain hours. Some teenagers even send text messages during their sleep, just like sleep walking.Tell them  not to share their password with anybody, including closest buddies. Tell them that they should never post or say anything on the Internet that they would not want the whole world to read, never respond to the bully; never engage in a chat room exchanges. Parents must look at their own boundaries too and become good role models. For a teenager from a visible minority things are doubly tough. There are number of harassment incidents of Muslim students in USA and Sikh students in USA and UK. According to The Council of American Islamic Relations, “the number of bullying incidents against Muslim students has spiked in the wake of perfect economic and political storm: severe economic distress and anti-immigration sentiments, continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the conflation of Islam with terrorism”.

It is best to have a meeting with your children and talk about the problems they are likely to face. My three children, 11, 9 and 7, went to an “All White” school. I warned them of possible racial taunts and slurs they would encounter. I emphasized the fact in order to be respected they have to excel in studies and if possible in sports also, and try to be leaders rather than followers and doormats. That is what they did, became star players and top students.

Net-technology is changing very fast. Tablets are taking the place of books; South Korea is taking the lead in the area. Apple is introducing “Kindle Fire” tablet which can store millions of songs and movies. That toy will entice the teenagers to spend more time on playful activities.  They are already spending three hour with peers against one hour with parents. It requires tremendous patience to deal with teenagers, whose brains are not yet fully developed for making  rational and discriminating decisions Let us all keep in mind that cyberbullying is a community problem., and let us deal with it collectively and thoughtfully. Let us protect our most precious wealth. Let us not forget the tragic murder of Miss Maple Batalia –a beautiful 19 year old SFU student-a model and actress who wanted to be a doctor

http://thelinkpaper.ca/?p=10627

Bullying – Cyber Bullying, school bullying, etc. This video was necessary after yesterday’s news article about a 3rd grader bringing a gun to school to protect himself from a bully. 3rd Grader Brings Gun to School: goo.gl CyberBullying Article: goo.gl TUMBLR About Me/Equipment: wilsontech1.tumblr.com DAILY iPHONE VLOG Channel: youtube.com LIKE me on Facebook: facebook.com FOLLOW me on Twitter: twitter.com AUDIO Podcast: lifepluggedin.com OUTRO performed by Charlie Puth Music: Bas

(more…)

<!– CUSTOM IMAGE URL ?

–>

KATE Middleton wants to tell you about “MY BULLYING HELL”.

Was the future Mrs Prince William a kindergarten tough? Well, no. The News of the World has news:

ROYAL bride Kate Middleton suffered a devastating ordeal at the hands of a gang of vicious bullies, the News of the World can reveal.

It was those Palace flunkies that did for Diana, we’d wager?

Her teenage tormentors even put excrement in her bedsheets at posh Downe House school and hounded Terrified Kate, 29, was hounded for being “too perfect”.

That’s her story and she is sticking to it – literally.

School pal Jessica Hay said: “She told me she was very, very badly bullied.”

This might not be the best advert Downe House, that school where gels are processed into young ladies, has seen published.

We are told that Kate was “too nice for her own good“. Her two terms at the Berkshire school were a “tears-filled nightmare”.

The story is rooted in a new book by Sean Smith, authour of Cheryl, (a book about Cheryl Cole) Robbie (Robbie Williams), Jennifer: The Unauthorized Biography of Jennifer Aniston, Kylie: The Biography (Kylie Minogue), Britney: The Biography (Britney Spears), Victoria Beckham: The Biography, Justin Timberlake: The Biography, J.K.Rowling: A Biography and Royal Racing: The Queen and Queen Mother’s Sporting Life.

His books are published by Simon Schuster, and distributed by Harper Collins, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Mr Murdoch also owns the Sun. This front-page news looks a lot like an advertorial.

Here’s the blurb about the book:

Kate’s journey begins with her remarkable mother, Carole, a true rags-to-riches story. Sean Smith examines Kate’s early life, her unhappy time being bullied at school before finding her feet at Marlborough College where she was transformed from an ugly duckling to a swan. He travels to St Andrews in Scotland where she met Prince William.

Yep. It’s a modern fairytale, in which the normal “ugly” girl suffers to become a swan.

As for that headline-making bullying… Well, the stories are rooted in Smith’s interviews with some of Kate’s “closest friends”. You may suppose that Kate’s closest friends would not talk to the media and writers of unofficial biographies. But you’d be wrong, apparently.

“The bullying was far worse than just knocking her schoolbooks out of her hands or pushing her to the back of the lunch queue.”

Worse than that?!

“Poor Kate was lonely, homesick and frequently in tears.”

So. It wasn’t just the alleged bullying that made her time at the school trying. She was homesick at boarding school at age 13.

And if there was bulling there must have been bullies. Will those girls now grown up bridle at the accusation?

“She had run into a pack of bullies who reduced her to an emotional wreck. Until then she had been at mixed schools and had no experience of how bitchy girls could be.”

Because girls at mixed school aren’t bitchy? Who knew?

This is followed by news of Kate being too perfect, her, er, eczema, and:

Kate’s parents went to see the then Marlborough headmaster, Ed Gould, to plead with him to take Kate in the middle of the summer term. Mr Gould listened sympathetically to their story and found her a place in the school’s all-girl house Elmhurst, renowned for its sporting excellence.

But what about girls being bitches when they are in one school?

Get a load of these alleged bitches, or as the paper puts it: “Famous old girls who survived.”

As Kate won the trust of her new pals, she told them how she “absolutely hated” her time at Downe House, which numbers BBC sports presenter Clare Balding, TV sitcom star Miranda Hart and model-turned TV chef Sophie Dahl among its former pupils.

And then we read the clincher: Kate Middleton is just like the caring News of The World:

She has never publicly spoken about her bullying ordeal – but has asked the 1,900 guests at her wedding to donate to charity Beatbullying, which has campaigned with the News of the World to stamp out the national problem.

Hurrah for Kate! Hurrah for the NoTW! Bully for them!!

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, April 2011 | In: Key Posts, Royal Family Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink

<!–

–>

http://www.anorak.co.uk/277827/royals/kate-middletons-bullying-hell-who-put-a-poo-in-her-bed.html