19 Apr
Kenneth, who attended South O’Brien High School in nearby Paullina, came out about a month ago to family and friends, and he quickly became the target of threatening cellphone calls, voicemails and online comments, his mother said.
1 Apr
The first bullying resource for parents is their child’s school. Whether your child is a victim of bullying or is the bully himself (or you are just concerned about intimidation at the school), you should reach out to your school teachers, counselor and principal for help. If you don’t get satisfactory results or assistance, don’t hesitate to go up the chain of command to the superintendent and ultimately the state Department of Education.
The government website, StopBullying.gov, can be a helpful resource to learn about bullying policies and laws. 49 states have passed anti-bullying laws. The website also includes tips on preventing bullying, responding to bullying and talking about bullying.
Based on a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 students and their teachers, No Kidding About Bullying: 125 Ready-to-Use Activities to Help Kids Manage Anger, Resolve Conflicts, Build Empathy, and Get Along (Amazon, $26) provides educators, parents and youth leaders with a wide assortment of activities that can be used to help children to resolve their conflicts without resorting to anger or violence. Geared toward grades three to six, this book and CD-ROM features games, role plays, group discussions, art projects and language arts exercises. The lessons affirm the importance of respect and kind actions.
This international best-seller is a favorite among parents and teachers. The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School — How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle of Violence (Barnes Noble, $12) talks about topics from conflict resolution to the three kinds of bullying. This practical, compassionate book is aimed at helping the triad of bullying — the bully, the bullied and the bystander.
This 20 minute DVD is short, but it provides very good information for kids. Featuring nationally acclaimed and Emmy-nominated youth speaker Mark Brown, Stop Bullying: Standing Up for Yourself and Others (Amazon, $40) uses personal experience to help provide students with concrete steps they can take to respond to bullying. It talks about the importance of respect and tolerance. This DVD is appropriate for junior high school and up.
This bullying DVD is essential for your little ones. Perfect for parents to watch with children ages 4 and up, Stand Up To Bullying (Amazon, $13) features Lucky Kat and Daren the Lion to address the topic of bullying. It talks about the different types of bullying and teaches children the best ways to respond.
Another vital bullying resource for parents is The Bully Project. The Bully Project is highlighted by a documentary film, Bully, about bullying in our schools. Directed by Lee Hirsch, the film follows the lives of five students in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma who face bullying on a daily basis. The Bully Project is more than just a film — it’s a call to action and a tool to raise awareness about bullying. On The Bully Project website, you can find out more about the film and its stories, as well as tips and suggestions for parents, students, educators and advocates. Kids can share their own bully stories by posting stories, uploading photos or recording videos. You can also find out about new initiatives in school, communities and online. Watch the trailer below to learn more about the film. Bully releases in theaters March 30.
How a bully can change your life
Is your child being bullied at school?
Protecting kids from cyber bullying
30 Mar
“Safety and security don’t just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.”
– Nelson Mandela
Bullying has become a huge issue these days, both online and off. Not just for individuals, but also for families and communities. It’s a mentally, emotionally trying experience. With the release of the movie, Bully in theaters March 30, the spotlight is shining even brighter on the tragic consequences bullying can have.
The good news is, there are ways to find, prevent, and remove bullying from classrooms and computers (and workplaces and life). Many organizations, celebrities, and passionate people are focused on the issue. Lady Gaga recently launched her Born This Way Foundation, Ellen DeGeneres has been an outspoken advocate to #endbullying, supporting organizations like GLSEN, The Trevor Project, and The National Center for Bullying Prevention, and what once seemed like “someone else’s problem” is becoming much more visible to us all. And along with more mainstream visibility comes more compassion, as well as more solutions. Part of solving any problem is education.
Here are some alarming figures from anti-bullying nonprofit Community Matters:
- 25,000 students are targets of attacks, shakedowns, robberies in secondary schools every day (National School Safety Center)
- 46% of high school students report seeing a serious fight at least once a month at school (USA Today). Research shows that 1/3 of the brain shuts down for as much as 72 hours after seeing that type of violence
- 260 teachers are physically assaulted and 6250 teachers are threatened with bodily injury every day (National Education Association)
- Approximately 75% of students say they have been bullied at school (Centers for Disease Control Prevention)
- Every day, 160,000 students stay home from school due to fear of attack or intimidation (National Association of School Psychologists)
Although these statistics seem intimidating, concrete steps can be taken to protect your child. The first step is awareness. CNN has an article, “How to Spot a Bullied Child and What to Do,” that highlights a few signs you may see from a bullied child:
- Inexplicable fits of rage: Does your child blow up at the least provocation?
- Overreaction to normal, daily frustrations: Does your child overreact to people and situations that never would have bothered him or her before?
- Faking illness to avoid going to school, or even making themselves sick.
- Impaired immune system and frequent illness: The constant stress and sadness associated with severe bullying can weaken your child’s immune system. This, coupled with a child’s wishing he or she were sick to get out of school can be a powerful combination.
Image courtesy of Eddie-S (Flickr).
Here are a few things The National Bullying Prevention Center suggests you can do to help prevent bullying:
- Sign a Petition–Unite with others and add your voice to an online petition or hold a petition signing event at your school or in your community.
- Share Stories–Upload a video, story, poem, artwork, or audio clip expressing how you feel about bullying, how you think it affects students and schools, what you have done to prevent bullying, or what others can do to prevent bullying.
- National Bullying Prevention Month–Participate in activities, education and awareness building in October.
- Community Events–Hold a special event to show your school or organization cares about this important issue. The event can include music, giveaways, special speakers, petition signings and more, as people unite to join the movement against bullying.
- Run, Walk, Roll Against Bullying–Raise awareness of bullying prevention in your community with a live event. Find a location, gather sponsors, invite participants and hold the event. Consider planning activities for after the race, such as speakers, drawings and more.
- Donate–Donating to the cause is a great way to share you care. Your contribution can mean one less student being bullied, one more student speaking out, or one more student knowing that someone cares.
And don’t forget to share your passion to help with your social networks. With more understanding and awareness of the problem, the chances of creating long-term change greatly increase. Like most things, the more we work together to listen, learn, and help, the faster things will get better. Because everyone deserves to feel and be safe and happy.
Follow Amy Neumann on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/CharityIdeas
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-neumann/together-we-can-end-bully_b_1383867.html
26 Mar
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25 Mar
How Wayne-Westland deals with bullying issues and informing parents about ineffective teachers are among the policies that have been changed to accommodate new state laws.
The board approved the changes last week, following a public hearing, which drew just one comment on the new anti-bullying policy.
Katelyn Jacobi, a junior at John Glenn High School and president of the True Colors student organization, thanked the board for the new bullying policy mandated by the passage of Matt’s Safe School Act.
“This has been an issue near and dear to our hearts,” she said. “Many think bullying is a right of passage, but I have witnessed it and have been of victim of bullying. I know what can be said and done can be hurtful. We have been fighting for a change so school can be safe for all students.”
Under the new policy, prohibits “bullying of any district students at school, regardless of the motive of the perpetrator,” as well as “retaliation or false accusation against a target of bullying, a witness or another person with reliable information about an act of bullying at school.”
“The district has always had a policy in place,” said Deputy Superintendent Paul Salah. “The district has been extremely proactive. Any issue of bullying is taken seriously and investigated completely.”
According to Salah, the new policy includes all those elements to bring the district into compliance with the new law.
“We made sure we covered the bases,” he told the board.
While the new policy “is fine,” board Vice-President John Goci said he believes “it needs more enforcement.”
“The enforcement is from administrative intervention to expulsion, we have to make sure the district has the latitude to make a decision,” Salah said.
The district was required to hold a public hearing on the new anti-bullying policy and send it to the Michigan Department of Education by June.
Election changes
Also changed to reflect a new state law is when the school board meets for its organizational meeting.
Wayne-Westland has held school elections every year in the spring – first June and then May, and the board at its first meeting in July would elect officers. However, with a new state law requiring school elections to be held in the November general election in even numbered years, the board is shifting its organization meeting to January.
Also added to the policy was the use of the district e-mail as another way of notifying board members of special meetings.
“We post the meetings and times on our website and special meetings as well, we live in technological society, it only makes sense to include e-mail,” said Salah.
“And each board member has a district e-mail,” added board President Carol Middel.
The policy changes also include the evaluation of the superintendent and staff and the notification of parents that their students have a teacher rated as ineffective.
According to Salah, the district has been preparing for the changes for two years and a new teacher evaluation is being rolled out this year. The new staff evaluations reflect changes in the state tenure act. In the case of notifying parents, Salah said that if a teacher has been rated as ineffective on their two most recent annual year-end evaluations, parents will be notified.
Parents will be notified in writing by no later than July 15 prior to the start of the school year that their student would be assigned to the teacher as well as the identity of the teacher.
While the new policy was approved this month, enforcement of that policy won’t take effect until July 1, 2015, Salah added.
smason@hometownlife.com (313) 222-6751
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20120325/NEWS24/203250386
