School Bullying Council

Lizzie Velasquez gets a lot of stares. The 23-year-old senior at Texas State University stands 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs just 58 pounds.

“I can’t gain weight,” said Velasquez, describing the rare syndrome that blocks her body from storing fat. As a result, Velasquez is skin and bones despite eating around the clock.

“My stomach is so small that I can’t eat that much,” she said. “So about 30 minutes after eating I’m ready to eat again. I snack a lot just to keep my energy up.”

The cause of Velasquez’s syndrome – so rare that it has no name – is a mystery. Only two other people are known to have it, and countless genetic tests have turned up nothing.

“She’s missing all of her adipose tissue,” said Dr. Atul Chopra, a resident in medical genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, describing the layer of cells under the skin that plump up with dietary fat. “We just don’t know why.”

Velasquez was born by emergency C-section weighing just less than three pounds – half of what was expected for the 36-week pregnancy. And ever since, she’s been poked, prodded and stared out by dozens of doctors trying to diagnose and treat her mysterious condition.

“Once I got to about age 13, I kind of got tired of it,” said Velasquez, who besides her frail frame and blindness in her right eye is surprisingly healthy. “I realized I don’t really want a cure for this syndrome. If a doctor found a magic pill or some surgery that would help me gain weight, I wouldn’t want it. All the struggles I’ve had made me who I am today.”

Those struggles have been many. Velasquez is still bullied because of her gaunt look, but says her elementary school years were the worst.

“I felt like some sort of monster,” she said, recalling her first day of kindergarten. “I never told anyone how bad I was being picked on because I was embarrassed. When I would take a bath at night, that’s when I would cry.”

Every September, Velasquez’s dad, Lupe – a teacher at her school – would stand up in front of her class and say, “This is Lizzie. She’s just like you guys, she just looks a little different,” Velasquez said. “It was a huge help.”

Now Velasquez is using her victory over bullying to inspire others. On top of a full course load, she’s penned two books and delivered motivational speeches to young students across Texas. She also made an “It Gets Better” YouTube video with nearly 2.5 million views.

“I tell everyone, ‘Even though you don’t have my syndrome, you might be able to relate to the struggles I’ve had,’” she said, explaining how talking about bullying is therapeutic for her, too. “It’s kind of the grown-up version of my dad coming to class.”

Velasquez’s mom, Rita, couldn’t be prouder.

“How she has the courage to get up and talk to crowds of people is beyond me because I’m terrified of doing anything like that,” she said. “The confidence she has, it just amazes me. Sometimes I’m insecure about the way I look, and she says, ‘Mom, don’t be that way.’”

In December, Velasquez will graduate and focus all her time on helping others overcome bullying. She maintains that she doesn’t want a cure for her syndrome, but adds that she’d love to have a name for it.

“I’d like a diagnosis – a name so I can say, ‘this is what I have,’” she said, joking that the syndrome should be named after her.

Velasquez is still participating in some genetic studies with hopes of helping other people with weight-regulation disorders.

“We might be able to find an abnormal gene or set of genes that have not in the past been associated with weight,” said Baylor’s Chopra, who is currently sequencing Velasquez’s genome. “This would not only help Lizzie, but might also be being to people who are obese.”

Regardless of what the studies find, Velasquez looks forward to living a long and normal life surrounded by supportive family and friends.

“They often forget I have a syndrome,” she said, describing how her girlfriends will distract her from strangers’ stares. “They’ll say, ‘Don’t be so into yourself. They’re staring at us.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/texas-woman-gain-weight-bullied/story?id=17228529

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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/bullying-sports-parents-send-an-ugly-message/story-e6frfifx-1226468495110

The Hillsborough School District investigated 154 reports of harassment, intimidation and bullying in the 2011-12 school year.

According to a report by Scott Rocco, the district’s anti-bullying coordinator and assistant superintendent for human resources, a total of 46 incidents were confirmed.

The incidents resulted in 17 in-school suspensions, six out-of-school suspensions and 11 detentions, according to the report presented at Monday’s school board meeting.

Other disciplinary actions taken were conferences with parents, suspension of privileges and individual counseling sessions.

Two referrals for therapy were also made.

Under a new state law, Rocco said, the incidents must both have to be “disruptive” to the school day and the victim must be a member of a protected class, such as race, gender, religion and sexual orientation.

Of the incidents, six involved race, 11 involved gender, seven involved disabilities, six involved sexual orientation and 20 involved “other distinguishing characteristics.” Some of the subjects could be members of two or more protected classes, Rocco explained.

The most common form of incident, the report stated, was verbal (33), followed by gesture (12) and physical (10.) Electronic communications accounted for eight incidents.

Because of the new law, this year’s report will serve as a baseline for the district, Rocco said.

The school district reviews its harassment, intimidation and bullying policies every year, Rocco said. Anti-bullying programs are integrated into the curriculum and each staff member, including substitutes, receives training, Rocco said.

The district also offers a number of conflict resolution programs and peer programs, he said.

The district also cooperates with the township police department, Rocco said.

http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/report-46-bullying-incidents-confirmed-in-schools

Boca Raton resident Rebecca Zerbo, 13, is reaching out to bullying victims across the country.

Rebecca, a student at Eagles Landing Middle School, is the founder and CEO of Positive Pocket, which she started in response to a bullying incident she suffered last year, in order to “regain my inner strength and self-worth.”

Positive Pocket includes a card with a list of positive affirmations that encourage people when things aren’t going well. The cards are free and available at http://www.positivepocket.org.

“Kids and adults now have an anchor that they can pull out of their pocket or their purse that reminds them that they really matter,” she said.

Among her accolades for her efforts is being one of two national winners of a $30,000 scholarship as part of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Saunders program. She credits much of her success to the tutelage of the local YEA, sponsored by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.

As a participant in this year’s class of 24, she was selected to compete in the national YEA! Bright Ideas Competition in New York. She also earned a trip to Washington, D.C., to be recognized at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Summit.

Through her travels, Rebecca has developed a new goal — Positive Pockets in every school in the nation.

“Bullying is definitely a big problem in every school,” she said.

She has been spreading her message throughout South Florida. Schools, doctors’ offices, hospitals, chaplains and more distribute her Positive Pocket cards. She also sells Positive Pocket bracelet pens for $2 to raise money for the cause, is launching the Positive Kids with Good Character Scholarship this year, and is designing an app for smartphones.

She also has made presentations at schools and, most recently, Pine Tree Camp at Lynn University

Bachelor’s, master’s online degrees.

“Pine Tree Camp counselors are working hard to teach all campers about bullying and its effects on others,” director Diane DiCerbo said. “Rebecca was a past camper who turned a negative situation in school into a positive, productive one. … Rebecca is an amazing young lady to be able to speak to a group of adults and send such a strong message.”

In her presentation, Rebecca discusses her experience with bullying as a sixth-grader at Eagles Landing. A girl took her band folder and threw around the papers. Rebecca went in the bathroom and cried and later failed a math test.

That night, she wrote herself a positive message and took it to school the next day, which resulted in her feeling good about herself again. Soon after came the idea for Positive Pocket.

“It’s made a huge impact on my life because Positive Pocket is now a part of me,” Rebecca said. “I love helping people; it’s a great feeling.”

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/custom/society/palmbeach/fl-cn-pocket-0708-20120711-5,0,5631057.story

No one believes children should be bullied in school, no matter what the genesis of the bullying. But to think that somehow Congress could stop playground taunting, middle-school teasing, or insults leveled through social media is illogical. Yet Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D–TX) and Lamar Smith (R–TX) think they can do just that by expanding Juvenile Accountability Block Grants to include school bullying.

The proposal includes a “sense of Congress” provision that states “that the use of best practices in the effort to combat bullying should be encouraged.” It also establishes accountability-based programs designed to prevent bullying, including cyber bullying.

Interest in bullying prevention is not new. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights took up the topic last fall and recommended more federal intervention in bullying prevention. Several members of the commission dissented from the report’s recommendations, arguing that the federal government is an inappropriate vehicle for bullying prevention. “I do not believe that controlling unacceptable student behavior in schools is—as the cliché runs—rocket science,” said commission vice chair Abigail Thernstrom. She continued:

I have spent much time in both orderly and disorderly schools. In those that are well run and have a culture truly devoted to education, no student even thinks of harassing peers or teachers—the latter often being a serious problem. The inmates do not run the asylum where there are clear messages about who is in charge, and about acceptable and unacceptable behavior. In orderly, disciplined schools, there is no running in the halls, fights between students, disrespectful language used in talking to other students or to teachers.…

School culture is something that only schools can set. Values cannot be imposed from above or outside. It is very difficult to see how the federal government can play a major role in stopping bullying in hundreds of thousands of schools across the land.

The Heritage Foundation’s Todd Gaziano, also a member of the commission, noted that some advocates of federal anti-bullying legislation claim it is necessary because state laws fail to prevent bullying:

If so, what makes them think more federal laws would work? For example, every state prohibits theft with severe penalties, but thefts still occur. Does that mean state theft laws are “not working?” Would a general federal theft law prevent them?

Teachers and principals are in the best position to establish discipline standards in their classrooms and schools, and they need more authority to do so. As federal intervention in education has grown, so too has congressional micro-management of schools. In order to give teachers and principals the authority to set discipline standards, that congressional overreach needs to be rolled back, and states should be allowed the flexibility to put education funding where it is most needed.

Federal policymakers should work to free states from the many regulations dictating how they spend education funding and allow states to put that money toward any lawful education purpose under state law. Proposals such as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act do just that and would allow states to prioritize programs like bullying prevention if they deemed it a priority.

Better still, states could allow funding to become portable, following a child to any school of his or her parents’ choice, where they can be confident of the culture and values that will provide a positive learning environment. And school choice could very well be the best possible anti-bullying program.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/07/10/an-anti-bullying-agenda-for-congress/

Unison Fife branch officer Alex Duncan said civilian staff at the Scottish Police College in Tulliallan, near Kincardine, are facing “systematic bullying and intimidation” from management.

He said he has had concerns for more than a year but so far all of the complaints “have fallen on deaf ears” and claims his requests to meet with managers from the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) have either been ignored or cancelled.

Mr Duncan said: “I’ve had concerns about the culture of bullying and intimidation at the college for about 16 months, and about how complaints and grievances raised by police staff are handled. All of my requests to discuss my concerns have fallen on deaf ears so far.

“If a police officer makes a complaint against a civilian member of staff it is taken seriously and dealt with very quickly. However, when it’s the other way round it’s a different story.”

Mr Duncan told The Courier newspaper that he is putting together a survey to allow workers to give their views confidentially, which he hopes to then raise with the SPSA.

Unison represents 53 members of staff at the college, which is to be the interim base for the new Police Service of Scotland, which could come into effect as early as next April. Legislation to merge the existing eight regional forces was agreed at the Scottish Parliament last month.

John Geates, director of the Scottish Police College, said: “I absolutely reject these unsubstantiated suggestions that a culture of bullying exists in any part of our organisation.

“We haven’t had a high level of grievances raised by college staff in the last year and neither have we evidence of significant numbers of staff leaving. All employees, whether they be police staff or police officers, are treated the same under the same policies, there are no differences.”

He added: ” Leading and managing in a time of change is a difficult and challenging task. But it’s one we take very seriously. That’s why the Scottish Police College is one of a handful of organisations in Scotland which has achieved the Gold standard from Investors in People for supporting its staff and we are proud of this recognition.”

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.

http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/scottish-headlines/police-college-bullying-blasted-1-2402724

”Who is that man who’s staring at you so angrily?” asked a customer of Evelyn Lee in the department store where she was a sales associate.

It was her boss — the same one, she said, who criticized her within customers’ earshot on topics that didn’t earn lectures for other employees. He threatened to fire her, took away her hours and denied her the chance to earn more by opening sales accounts.

“It did suck the fun out of work,” said Lee, 61, of Rialto. “There were times it made me angry.”

Lee’s treatment is a case of workplace bullying, in the news lately following a Riverside County grand jury report on a division of the county’s human resources department.

The Bellingham, Wash.-based Workplace Bullying Institute defines workplace bullying as “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons … by one or more perpetrators.” It includes verbal abuse, threatening conduct or sabotage that interferes with someone’s ability to work.

“It’s only a focus on the negative and it’s unjustified based on the performance,” said Gary Namie, a psychologist and the institute’s director. “It’s about this unearned, uninvited domination.”

According to the grand jury report, a group of recruiters in a county temp worker program were derisively referred to by their supervisors as “the wild, wild West” and singled out for harsh treatment, even though other county departments were satisfied with their work.

The report found workplace bullying was “pervasive” in the program and “caused fear and intimidation among employees.”

County officials are looking into the grand jury’s findings. They expect to issue a formal response by the end of July.

Not racist or sexist

Research into workplace bullying started in Scandinavia in the 1980s, Namie said. Australia, Sweden, Great Britain and France are among the countries with anti-workplace bullying laws, but to date, no U.S. state has one, according to the institute.

Workplace bullying is different in most cases from racial or sexual harassment, Namie said. Anti-discrimination laws apply only if the harasser and target are of different races or genders, he said, adding that right now, there’s no legal recourse for 80 percent of the workplace bullying taking place.

Often, workplace bullying targets are veteran workers whose skills and status make bullies feel threatened or jealous, Namie said. “People will slide into (the bully) role very easily” if it helps them get ahead, he said, adding higher-ups often ignore or encourage the bullying.

Spreading rumors, telling others to shun someone, closed-door berating sessions and using staff meetings to embarrass workers are forms of bullying, Namie said. Bullies can also deny access to training or technology that targets need to do their job, he said.

The grand jury report on county HR described documents that “showed disrespect to employees beyond what would be considered reasonable.” Employees who admitted inadvertent errors were “later reprimanded and accused of making the mistakes intentionally,” the report read.

1 in 3 bullied?

Thirty-five percent of adult Americans reported being bullied at work, according to institute-commissioned surveys conducted in 2007 and 2010. Seventy-two percent of bullies are bosses and bullies are more likely to be men and 64 percent of bullying is same-gender, the surveys found.

Victims of workplace bullying suffer from a range of physical and mental ailments, according to the institute. “(The stress) changes the brain,” Namie said. “People get sicker and sicker. Meanwhile they try to tough it out.”

Howard Golds, a partner in the labor and employment practice group of the Riverside firm Best Best Krieger, said “equal opportunity bullying” is a problem that’s often mistaken for discrimination.

“We see employers who are sued for discrimination and what’s really going on is you have a supervisor who doesn’t conduct themselves very well,” he said. “Oftentimes you have a situation, when the facts emerge, the person charged with discrimination treats everyone (badly).”

Jack Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Stater Bros., one of the Inland region’s largest employers, said he’s not aware of workplace bullying among the supermarket chain’s 18,000 employees.

Managers and union shop stewards are at every store and Stater Bros. has a “very, very strong harassment policy,” Brown said. “We permit no use of unbecoming language between employees or certainly between supervision and employees.”

In an email, Tracy Silveria, spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents about 5,800 county workers, wrote her union “is very concerned about workplace bullying and has worked proactively to help members identify, report, and correct incidents of bullying.

“We welcome working with Riverside County human resources in addressing some of the issues that the recent grand jury report identified, and will continue to advocate for a positive work environment free of bullying behavior.”

Law needed?

Namie’s institute wants states to pass “healthy workplace bills” to crack down on workplace bullying. The bills would legally define an abusive workplace environment and allow abused employees to sue, provided they meet certain legal standards.

“It’s going to take a law to get these employers to do what they should be doing anyway,” Namie said.

Versions of the bill have been introduced in 21 states — California being the first in 2003, according to the institute. But so far, no state has passed healthy workplace legislation, Namie said.

Suzanne Lucas, a human resources professional who runs “Evil HR Lady,” a blog on HR topics, maintains workplace bullying legislation isn’t needed.

“Basically, legislation won’t stop the bullying and will be an added expense on businesses,” she wrote in an email. “The best thing to curb bullying is to have a robust job market. If you can get another job easily, you can just leave if bullying begins …”

“Additionally, definable (workplace bullying) is debatable and largely relies on the feelings of the victim. If there’s a good, legal bullying definition out there I’ve yet to see one.”

Lee lost her job at the department store after it went out of business.

“It was definitely easier to come into work on the days my boss wasn’t there,” she said.

Follow Jeff Horseman on Twitter: @JeffHorseman

http://www.pe.com/local-news/topics/topics-health-care-headlines/20120708-workplace-bullying-experts-say-protection-needed.ece