School Bullying Council

Posted: Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:16 am

Human Rights Commission talks bullying

HAWKINS TEAGUE • Staff Writer

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The Murray Human Rights Commission met Monday and discussed creating an anti-bullying ordinance to propose to the city council.

Mayor Bill Wells said the commission does not have a specific timeline in mind for passing an ordinance, and that City Attorney Warren Hopkins is continuing to review the proposal to make sure it would be enforceable if passed. Wells said an ordinance would intend to discourage bullying, but would not attempt to dictate to local schools what their related policies should be.

City Administrator Matt Mattingly said he expected the ordinance to include an anti-bullying campaign, which the commission would oversee. Commissioner Jody Cofer said the Kentucky League of Cities had encouraged officials to work closely with school superintendents to inform them of what the ordinance would say and what its goals were.

“Here we are in the very first formative years in the 21st century,” said Commissioner Brian Clardy. “We have to create an environment where we stop labeling people as ‘the other.’ Let’s just sort of buttress that by saying that we’re not going to allow it in our school systems.”

Commissioner Jim Frank said Monday’s would be his last meeting because of recent health problems. Frank is very active in the community, and he said his doctor advised him to decrease or eliminate some of his obligations. Wells said he would “reluctantly” accept his resignation, especially considering that Frank is also the president of the Kentucky Retired Teachers Association.

Clardy offered a resolution to congratulate Frank for his work on the commission and for the city in general. The commission unanimously approved it. The commission also talked about the possibility of changing commissioner terms from one year to two years and also staggering the terms instead of having everyone appointed or re-appointed at once.

The commission also voted to give the Zeta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha at Murray State University $150 to help fund its annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Jan. 21. Cofer said he would rather help APA promote their breakfast than for the Human Rights Commission to hold its own breakfast on that day. Commissioner Peggy Pittman-Munke suggested contributing some money to the organization to help fund the breakfast.

Cofer read from the schedule of planned events for the MLK holiday and MSU’s Day of Service. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, with a community march and candlelit vigil at the MLK monument on campus. The breakfast will be at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at the Woodmen of the World building, and the keynote speaker, Elder Henry Watson, will appear in the Curris Center Ballroom at 10 a.m.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2012 8:16 am.

http://murrayledger.com/news/local/human-rights-commission-talks-bullying/article_4b6130b8-439d-11e2-8819-0019bb2963f4.html

NEW ALBANY, IND. (WDRB) — Police say two girls accused of beating up and bullying another New Albany High School student have been taken into custody.

After our story aired yesterday, we heard from dozens of viewers upset about bullying in local schools.  Many couldn’t believe what happened on October 5th.

17-year-old Kayla Hamby says two girls beat her head into the wall and floor when the teacher was out of the room.  Hamby says she now has permanent hearing loss in her right ear.

Because it’s a juvenile case, police can only release limited information, but that information is made public to victims and their families. Hamby’s mother tells WDRB News that the 15- and 16-year-old girls who beat up Hamby have each been charged with Class C Felony Battery.

She says they’re in the Juvenile Detention Center in Clark County and they’re expected to be released on house arrest, and will return to school on Monday.

Hamby returned to school Tuesday because the girls are not there and her mother says the school has assured her they will keep her safe.  She says, “It’s something important because people are being bullied and they kill themselves over it and everything, but nobody does anything and it just needs to be done.”

New Albany Floyd County School officials say they’re investigating the incident and won’t comment until the investigation is complete.

Hamby’s mother says after she spoke at last night’s school board meeting, the board and assistant superintendent set up a face-to-face meeting with her for Wednesday afternoon to talk about the case.

Copyright 2012 WDRB News.  All Rights Reserved.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/19835044/two-girls

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul appears to bully cornerback Prince Amukamara in a video that has gone viral. (Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE)

Giving a guy a hard time is part of football — it’s what men are supposedly supposed to do. From innocent towel snapping to throwing a second year cornerback into a tub of freezing cold water, in a football locker-room no one is safe. But when does it stop being good natured fun and start being an issue that could put a rift in the middle of the New York Giants defense?

That’s the question at hand, as a video of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul throwing cornerback Prince Amukamara into a tub of freezing cold water has gone viral.

Here’s where it gets interesting though. The video starts and it all seems like a good natured prank. We’ve all been there where a beloved family member picks us up and tosses us into the pool — it’s a classic family get-together cliche. But in this video, it doesn’t look like Amukamara is putting up much of a fight.

The context of the video is unknown and the first sign that it could become an issue is the fact that Twitter took the video down, stating it violates their harassment policy.

With teammates following, Pierre-Paul squeezes his massive frame into a doorway and promptly dumps — and I mean dumps– Amukamara into a freezing cold tub. Instead of laughing it off, Amukamara angrily wipes his eyes and gets out of the tub looking very displeased. This isn’t a displeased look that guys getting innocently hazed wear, this is a look of a man who is seriously angry he just got thrown into a tub of cold water.

Amukamara proceeded to storm out of the room, with a few players accompanying him closely.

Head coach Tom Coughlin appears to be less-than-thrilled as well with the situation, saying that he’ll look into the incident, going as far as calling it inappropriate.

“I’m going to look into it, I’m going to talk to the parties involved,” Coughlin said Sunday, via Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.  “As I’m understanding it, there were some parts of it that were inappropriate.  And in no way, anything that occurs within this family or within our group should be a part of social media.  I’m going to address that strongly because I spent a little time on that this preseason.”

Now I get it, there’s a certain element of macho-man swagger you have to have in a locker-room. Is it stupid and all for show, most likely, but not everyone fits in with that attitude. Just because out uncles dump us in the pool doesn’t mean we like it. Will we get over it, yes. But for that time being we are not happy campers and hopefully for the Giants, Amukamara is a case of the latter.

The video speaks for itself. Either Amukamara isn’t a big fan of the macho locker-room antics that come with being a football player (who wants to get dumped in a tub, I mean honestly), or this was a case of locker-room bullying. You be the judge.

Tags: featured, Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants, NFL, popular, Prince Amukamara

http://fansided.com/2012/08/19/video-giants-locker-room-bullying-innocent-prank-or-are-problems-brewing-in-new-york/

IT’s funny sometimes how recent events seem to have happened long ago. In June, as the previous school year was ending across the United States, attention was drawn to an ugly incident in Rochester, N.Y., in which a group of middle school students unmercifully bullied an elderly bus monitor.

The disgusting behavior was captured on video by a student who thought it would be cool to post the images on his Facebook page. Within hours, the video went viral on the Internet, and millions of viewers from around the world eventually saw the reprehensible behavior for themselves. The mainstream media reported the incident, which led to the one-year suspension of the students involved. The victim reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars from sympathetic, supportive people she didn’t even know.

The entire episode became the quintessential poster story for the epidemic of bullying. Hundreds of teens posted their reactions of outrage online, proof that perhaps for the first time on a mass scale the seemingly taboo subject of bullying finally was getting the attention and understanding it deserves.

If you missed this event and are the least bit Internet savvy, you can view video of 68-yearold bus monitor Karen Klein being bullied. Go to youtube.com and search for ‘kids bully bus monitor.’ You will be horrified at the behavior of several teenage punks who physically touched, cursed and harassed the woman who had worked for the school district for years simply to help ensure the safety of children who ride the bus.

So here we are. It’s August, and school starts back in Gulf Breeze and Santa Rosa County in the next few days. Our children will return to school in search of an education, and some – probably more than we realize – will be exposed to the bullying behavior of a few fellow students who have little regard for other people’s feelings.

There will be posters on the doors and walls informing students how to report and deal with bullying. Teachers and administrators will do their best to remind students how distasteful it is to bully another person, but for some kids this will fall on deaf ears.

Parents and guardians, I ask you – no, I implore you – to sit down with your children in a quiet environment and frankly talk about bullying. Many kids are too scared to admit a problem, and it’s important that our children know that there are ways to combat the problem without repeatedly being abused, chastised or ostracized.

Students, particularly those of you in leadership positions, I urge you to stand up and demonstrate empathy to fellow students who might be victims of bullying. Show your peers who might not have the fanciest designer clothes or the latest hairstyle that they, too, belong and are important. Be a friend; don’t be a hater.

There is a movie titled ‘Bully’ that you can find online. It’s a frank, honest, noholds barred look at bullying and the ramifications including, in the worst of cases, suicide among students unable or unwilling to cope with abuse. I warn you that the movie is graphic and contains profanity and uncomfortable situations. Don’t watch it if that would offend you. (But trust me, a sizable percentage of middleand high-school students hear and experience similar behavior on a regular basis. It’s nothing they haven’t been exposed to in one form or another.)

Church leaders, I ask that the subject of bullying be discussed openly with your congregations and in your youth Sunday school classes. Civic clubs and social organizations should join the conversation. Teachers, require your students to read this column and have them write short essays on their opinions of bullying. Get them talking openly about it. In short, let’s all be proactive and do everything possible to make the 2012-2013 school year devoid of bullying. If our children learn nothing else, it will be a successful year.

http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2012-08-16/Front_Page/June_bullying_incident_remains_teachable_moment.html

View full sizeNBC ConnecticutA screenshot from an NBC Connecticut video that reports a man paid a teenager $20 to fight a girl he thought was bullying his daughter.

CONNECTICUT — Police say a man paid a teenager $20 to fight a girl he thought was bullying his daughter, according a report by to NBCConnecticut.com.

Phillip Prokop, 42, of Shelton, Conn., is accused of paying a 17-year-old girl to fight a 13-year-old girl at a shopping center May 26, the report said.

Prokop was arrested that day and released on $10,000 bond, according to the website. He is due back in court on Monday.

In an interview with NBC Connecticut, Prokop says he instead tried to break up the fight, and was meeting the girls that day to tell them to stop bullying his 15-year-old daughter.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/07/connecticut_police_accuse_man.html

ATLANTA — Hundreds of school systems nationwide exhibit suspicious test scores that point to the possibility of cheating, according to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The analysis doesn’t prove cheating. It reveals that scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern that, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools.

“This encourages further exploration of these unusual patterns, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s widespread cheating,” Aaron Pallas, professor of Sociology and Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, told NBC News.

The AJC reported in 2008 and 2009 about statistically improbable jumps in test scores within the 109-school Atlanta Public Schools system. Those reports led to an investigation by Georgia officials, which found that at least 180 principals, teachers and other staff took part in widespread test-tampering in the 50,000-student district.

In Sunday’s editions, the AJC reports that 196 of the nation’s 3,125 largest school districts had enough suspect test results that the odds of the results occurring naturally were less than one in 1,000.

For 33 districts nationwide, the odds of their test scores occurring naturally were worse than one in a million.

Standardized test scores have been at the forefront of national and local efforts to improve schools. Test performance was the centerpiece of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which demanded higher classroom accountability. Tougher teacher evaluations that many states are rolling out place more weight than ever on the tests.

But the AJC report found that the sweeping policy shifts rely on test results that may be unreliable.

While the federal government requires states to use standardized testing, it does not require educators to screen scores for anomalies or investigate those that turn up.

“If we are going to make important decisions based on test results – and we ought to be doing that – we have to make important decisions about how we are going to ensure their trustworthiness,” said Daria Hall, director of K-12 policy with the nonprofit Education Trust.

“That means districts and states taking ownership of the test security issue in a way that they haven’t to date.”

In nine districts –- Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, East St. Louis, Ill., Gary, Ind., Houston, Los Angeles and Mobile County, Ala. –- scores careened so unpredictably that the odds of such dramatic shifts occurring without an intervention such as tampering were virtually zero, the newspaper found.

In Houston, test results for entire grades of students jumped two, three or more times the amount expected in one year, the analysis showed. When children moved to a new grade the next year, their scores plummeted – a finding that suggests the gains were not due to learning.

“These findings are concerning,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement after being briefed on the AJC’s analysis. He added that “states, districts, schools and testing companies should have sensible safeguards in place to ensure tests accurately reflect student learning.”

In a statement to community members friday, Houston Independent School District schools chief Terry Grier acknowledged AJC’s flagging of several schools in the district for improbable fluctuations in test scores. Grier notes that HISD had hired outside law firms to conduct investigations of possible cheating at schools that resulted in a number of educator terminations. HISD teacher are also not allowed to administer state exams to their own students, and storage rooms where testing materials are kept are monitored by security cameras.

Many school district officials contacted by the AJC disputed any conclusion that cheating was to blame for the swings.

Some school leaders attributed steep gains to exemplary teaching. But experts said instruction isn’t likely to move scores to the degree seen in the AJC’s analysis.

Cheating is one of only a few plausible explanations for such dramatic changes in scores for so many students within a district, said James Wollack, a University of Wisconsin-Madison expert in testing and cheating who reviewed the newspaper’s analysis.

“I can say with some confidence,” he said, “cheating is something you should be looking at.”

A contrary example resides in Indiana. The Project School, a K-9 charter school in Bloomington, has started to teach standardized testing as literary genre, dedicating two weeks out of the year to teach students test strategy and how to take the state exam with a different approach.

“In our world, you have to be able to write to a prompt you have to be able to do what somebody else expects of you in the moment they expect it of you — going to a job interview, going to write your college applications, your essays to get into college. So we want them to know whats expected of them and be able to perform in any setting,” Baron-Caudill told StateImpact. “We analyze testing with them and learn test-taking strategies… We want them to know how to be smart about taking a test. But we’re not going to spend time and energy teaching to the test.”

In each state, the newspaper used statistics to identify unusual score jumps and drops on state math and reading tests by grade and school. Declines can signal cheating the previous year. The calculations also took into account other factors that can lead to big score shifts, such as small classes and dramatic changes in class size.

The newspaper also developed a statistical method to identify school systems with far more unusual tests than expected, which could signal endemic cheating similar to what occurred in Atlanta. In its approach, the score analysis used conservative measures that highlighted extremes. The methodology is more likely to overlook possible indications of cheating than to suggest problems where none exist.

The newspaper’s methodology was reviewed by outside experts.

The AJC’s analysis suggests that tens of thousands of children may have been harmed by inflated scores that could have kept them from getting the academic help they needed.

In 2010 alone, the grade-wide reading scores of 24,618 children nationwide – enough to populate a mid-sized school district – swung so improbably that the odds of it happening by chance were less than 1 in 10,000.

Experts said the findings warrant deeper investigation at the local level.

Statistical checks for highly improbable scores are like medical tests, said Gary Phillips, a vice president and chief scientist for the large nonprofit the American Institutes for Research, who advised the AJC on its methodology.

“This is a broad screening,” he said. “If you find something, you’re supposed to go to the doctor and follow up with a more detailed diagnostic process.”

Districts and independent researchers have also questioned the AJC’s methodology, and caution drawing premature conclusions. The analysis does not take into account erasure rates or other direct evidence of cheating, and analyzing “cohorts,” or groups of students without access to individual students’ test scores create room for large margins of error.

A statement issued Saturday by Nashville Metro Schools lists a number of concerns officials have with AJC’s analysis. Variants like high student mobility rates, zoning changes and high proportions of English learners, among others, were not taken into consideration in analyzing the data, Nashville officials say.

Students absent from testing were assigned a “zero” in the data, rather than being excluded from the analysis, resulting in average scores that were below the minimum possible score. Flagged schools also tended to be those with large fluctuations in class size and frequent student transfers as well as those at the top and bottom of the economic scale.

To be sure, education leaders point out that the AJC data’s bottom line is likely less about where the cheaters are but that educators feel a need to cheat at all — directing the discussion to the contentious value of standardized testing. In a statement Saturday, the National Education Association responded to the AJC report by reaffirming its concern with high-stakes tests, adding that it strongly opposes cheating.

“The overuse of standardized tests for high-stakes decisions has shortchanged students, teachers and our education system in too many ways for far too long. We’ve lost sight of the reason tests were designed — to help gauge students’ comprehension and progress,” NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said. “By continuing to focus on these tests results and placing yet more blame on teachers, we are diverting attention from what really matters — making sure all our teachers have the resources they need to provide our students with the world class public school education they deserve.”

AJC’s prior reports revealed one of the largest cheating scandals in American school history, in which teachers and school administrators said they were pressured to maintain high scores under the federal No Child Left Behind law, as student performance on standardized exams is tied to school funding and teacher performance assessments. A number of school districts offered bonuses to teachers who had students with significant gains to testing scores. An investigation into the scandal found that Atlanta Public Schools officials created a culture of “fear, intimidation and retaliation.”

But the overhead pressure wasn’t unique to Atlanta. School districts from Pennsylvania to Texas to California saw similar problems, often identified by test erasure analyses, as investigations launched in systems across the country.

A Detroit Free Press survey last July reported that nearly 30 percent of public school educators say pressure to cheat on standardized exams is a problem at their schools, particularly at schools that don’t meet federal standards, where 46 percent say cheating is an issue.

To lessen the strain of a one-size-fits all approach to student assessments, the Education Department has issued waivers to 11 states, allowing them more freedom from No Child Left Behind — the Bush-era law that requires annual testing, results of which are tied to consequences for low-performing schools. States that seek waivers from the Obama administration are required to adhere to a measurement, curriculum and assessment plan proposed during the application process. An additional 26 states have applied for waivers.

Even so, some states are still trying to further lessen the emphasis on standardized tests. Virginia’s state Senate voted to pass a bill in January that scales back statewide tests for 3rd graders — cutting history and science from the list and only requiring English and math exams to allow teachers to focus on improving proficiency in those subjects.

The move by the Virginia Senate comes after a draft of a Republican bill would eliminate the federal requirement for statewide science testing. The draft legislation, introduced by House Republicans led by Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chair of the House Education Committee, marks a reversal of provisions under the current No Child Left Behind Law, which requires science testing at least three times — once each during elementary, middle and high school.

In Texas, a Dallas elementary school that was given “exemplary” status for academic achievement was discovered to have only taught its third graders reading and math last year – fabricating scores for every student in other subjects like social studies and science.

The Dallas Morning News reported in November that to propel the school’s status, Field Elementary School Principal Roslyn Carter “directed and caused false school records to be created” so that teachers could focus on student excellence in reading and math.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/24/schools-cheating-investig_n_1377767.html

A teenager once victimized by schoolmates petitioned a Hollywood studio group this week seeking a rating change for a new documentary film about bullying that would allow young audiences to see it without parental approval.

Katy Butler, 17, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, made the trek to the offices of the Motion Picture Association of America in Los Angeles to deliver a petition with more than 200,000 signatures seeking to change the R-rating for Bully to a less restrictive PG13.

“I hope they [the MPAA] see that 200,000 people agree with me that kids need to see this movie, and I hope they will listen to what I have to say,” Butler told Reuters ahead of delivering four big boxes of signatures to the MPAA.

Butler said she started the petition drive through social action website Change.org because she had been bullied in school after coming out as a lesbian, and she knows the harm bullying can do to kids.

The petition has been signed online by nearly 230,000 people but the MPAA, a group that represents Hollywood’s major stu-dios in business and government matters, has refused to budge from its position that Bully should not be seen by people under 17 unless accompanied by a parent.

The MPAA voluntarily rates films in the United States for content such as language, nudity and drug use, and in Bully there are too many uses of one particular expletive for the movie to obtain a less restrictive rating.

“That is a word that is used to bully kids. That is the language these kids hear in school day to day,” Butler said.

A spokeswoman for Change.org said Butler and her mother met with Joan Graves, the MPAA’s chairman of the classification and rating administration, for 15 to 30 minutes on Wednesday.

The MPAA issued a statement saying Butler’s “efforts in bringing the issue of bullying to the forefront of a national discussion in the context of this new film are commendable and we welcome the feedback about this movie’s rating.”

It went on to note that the R rating does not mean kids can’t see the movie, only that they have parental permission or a particular school district’s approval. No change to the rating was made.

http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/move-guide/Teen+petitions+group+over+Bully+rating/6276618/story.html

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Parents at a Brooklyn elementary school where a teacher’s aide has been accused of child pornography struggled Wednesday to square the lurid accusations with the caring educator they thought they knew.

FBI agents arrested Taleek Brooks on Monday after investigators found videos of the 40-year-old sexually exploiting children on a computer seized from his home, authorities said.

A criminal complaint mentioned two alleged victims, both believed to be current or former students at Public School 243, also known as the Weeksville School, where Brooks had worked since 1995.

Parents bringing their children to school Wednesday said they were shocked by the allegations.

“He seemed nice. He seemed genuine,” said Thea Williams, who dropped her 7-year-old daughter off.

Williams also has a 12-year-old son who graduated from the school, and after she learned of Brooks’ arrest she asked both children if they had ever been alone with the aide. They said no.

Vickie Chiaramonte said Brooks worked with her 9-year-old grandson on resolving conflicts with other children.

“He always showed him positive ways to solve problems,” said Chiaramonte, who also has a 10-year-old daughter at the school. “He was very well-spoken. He always appeared to be very concerned about the children’s well-being.”

Another grandmother who cares for her 6-year-old grandson, Charmaine Maxwell, called the charges against Brooks “disgusting” and added, “everyone believed he was such a nice person.”

The school is in a beige brick building adorned with a cheerful mural. A review posted by the independent rating organization insideschools.org lauds the school’s “tight-knit” staff but says students need a great deal of help academically and socially. Almost all of its students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and 20 percent are in special education.

In addition to serving as a teacher’s aide, Brooks was a group leader at an after-school program in the same building.

He was first hit with child pornography charges a month ago. On Tuesday, a federal judge revoked his bail amid new allegations.

Prosecutors said evidence included videos of Brooks spanking one naked child and fondling another in a classroom. Previously, investigators had suspected him only of trading child pornography, not producing it.

Brooks’ lawyer and relatives declined to comment.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott visited the school and met with about 20 parents Wednesday.

“Parents will be asking questions. They should be asking questions,” he said afterward.

The Department of Education released a letter from Walcott telling P.S. 243 parents to call a confidential FBI hotline, 212-384-2700, with any information relevant to the investigation. The FBI said it has received additional information since the allegations against Brooks were made public Tuesday.

Walcott said the FBI “has also informed us that if they have reason to suspect that one of your children may have been victimized by this individual, they will reach out to you directly.”

Asked about Brooks on Wednesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said with 125,000 teachers and other employees in the city’s public school system there is bound to be “somebody doing despicable things, somebody doing stupid things, somebody that’s not working hard.”

“There’s always going to be those things,” Bloomberg said. “The important thing is that this person was identified, caught, and we’ll use the full power of the law.”

The mayor chose his words carefully: “I don’t want to prejudice any investigation. But there are some sick people in the world, and you just have to learn to deal with them.”

The Department of Education first hired Brooks for a summer job in 1991, when he was fingerprinted and passed a background check. He was given a full-time job as a teacher’s aide in 1993.

He passed another background check when he was hired by the organization that runs the after-school program, the Madison Square Boys Girls Club.

According to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday, an examination of a home computer and two external hard drives seized from Brooks uncovered a stash of self-produced child porn.

The videos included two taken in a school classroom, one of Brooks touching a child’s genitals and another of him spanking a naked child, the complaint says. Investigators believe they were shot sometime between January 2008 and January 2011.

A previous complaint accused Brooks of sending pornographic photos and videos of children to an undercover agent he met online. The complaint says one of the images was of a man having sex with a boy who appeared to be about 10.

Following the exchange, FBI agents searched Brooks’ home on Jan. 13. The complaint alleges that during the search, Brooks “admitted that he had been downloading and sharing child pornography for approximately seven years.” He also “indicated that he had collected and saved over 1,000 digital files on his computer containing child pornography,” the complaint adds.

If convicted of producing child porn, Brooks faces a minimum 15 years in prison.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Samantha Gross contributed to this report.

—Copyright 2012 Associated Press

It was surprising, they all said, that so many of them had been affected by a bully.

Nearly 100 of the 647 students at Concord Middle School said that at one point or another they had been afraid to come to school this year.

Over two and a half days last month, the students, faculty, and staff at the school, under the banner of “CMS Stands Together,’’ engaged in a student-led, largely homegrown curriculum about bullying.

The first surprise was an anonymous survey answered by the sixth- through eighth-graders that revealed bullies and their victims permeated the school. Many students admitted to being a bully as well as a victim.

The other surprise was how many students had signed up to help lead the program. Earlier this fall, English teacher Sarah Oelkers and guidance counselor Kim Cyr asked the eighth-grade classes for volunteers to plan a program that would take up the short week leading to Thanksgiving.

“Fifty-seven of us crammed into one classroom,’’ said eighth-grader Claire Schnadig.

“In midwinter last year, we decided to throw the curriculum out the window and involve the whole community, rather than just disperse antibullying lessons piecemeal,’’ said Lynn Beattie, the school’s principal.

They had Olympic athletes, coaches, a teen singing sensation, and a Boston rapper all appear on stage. They made a video in which students, either anonymously or on camera, told of their bad experiences. They made posters to hang on the walls. They wrote on inflated balloons what action they could take in the future and sent them aloft.

Classes were devoted to discussing such issues as what makes a leader; what makes a bully; what can the individual do; what steps a bystander should take.

Frank Novak, a former college and professional football coach who is now a motivational speaker, held a question-and-answer session with eighth-graders.

“We had great participation, particularly from boys,’’ said Beattie.

For two days, the students were divided into groups of 25 with two teachers.

“It was the same team the whole time, which allowed them to be open and honest,’’ said Oelkers.

Singer Hayley Reardon, a 15-year-old singer from Marblehead, performed her antibullying anthem “Stand Together.’’ Students also heard from Boston rapper Mojo B, formerly Brent Shuttleworth, who attended Concord public schools. He described how he had been bullied at Concord Middle School and how it affected him.

“I think the antibullying initiative is incredibly important for several reasons,’’ said the rapper. “It deepens and develops the relationship between the students by supporting the idea of an ‘upstander,’ someone who is able discourage bullying by standing up for others being bullied. And it allows students to see what other students experience, and places an emphasis on both understanding similarities and respecting differences.’’

Oelkers said the balloon ceremony brought tears to her eyes. Each student wrote “something they could do to be kind’’ on a balloon, read it, and let it go.

“In my 18 years as a teacher, this is the single most powerful teaching and learning experience I’ve been involved with,’’ said Oelkers.

Liz Welburn, Concord Middle School’s assistant principal, said the faculty gave the students the terminology, the language to deal with bullies.

Eighth-graders said the role of the bystander is key.

“The bystanders are the most important part because they can step in and stop the bully where the target can’t,’’ said eighth-grader Bryce Bjork.

In addition to Oelkers, other teachers who spearheaded the initiative were Kim Cyr, Kari Kibler, Dan Murphy, and Maria McDermott.

Over lunch, a group of eighth-graders shared their thoughts about the experience.

“It’s gone so well, better than I thought,’’ said Chris Sykes. “It’s the small things that add up. It may not seem like bullying but it is. A lot of us have been victims.’’

“This has allowed kids to take charge,’’ said Bjork.

Charlotte Wallis said lessons from the program will last all year.

“I thought two days could be depressing or cheesy,’’ said Margaret Gill. “But I like our approach.’’

“It’s not all about the victim,’’ said Sykes. “You have to look at the bully too. That person needs help. Sometimes the bully needs more help than the victim.’’

Ryan Hebert summed it up simply: “It worked.’’

Betsy Levinson can be reached at betsy.levinson@gmail.com.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2011/12/04/concord-middle-school-tackles-bullying-with-homegrown-approach/S2E1Gslnaqubss4ZFmtK3N/story.html

Bullying is no longer something that happens face-to-face in the schoolyard. Steve Barreto, PhD, senior psychologist at Bradley Hospital, discusses cyberbullying and how parents can help.

(more…)

Under pressure: Parramatta CEO Paul Osborne.
Source: The Daily Telegraph

A FRESH allegation of workplace bullying has been levelled against Paul Osborne as Parramatta’s 27-day investigation into their CEO winds up this week.

The latest incident was brought to the club’s attention last week and will come under scrutiny if Osborne doesn’t stand down on Thursday when he fronts the Parramatta Eels board.

Osborne has already faced one bullying claim from a former female staffer. But he said he believed his role in that matter was now over.

“A complaint was made, it’s been investigated and a report was presented to the board a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

However, last week a new allegation was made to Parramatta that a former employee was pressured by Osborne and others not employed by the club into making false claims. This latest allegation has not been included in the current investigation.

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Osborne denies the allegations and vows to clear his name. “I’m unaware of any such claim,” he said. “That’s news to me.”

Eels chairman Roy Spagnolo wouldn’t comment on the latest allegation but is believed to be aware of the claims.

Investigators are close to finalising their inquiry, which includes whether Osborne properly documented contracts, the validity of “third-party” player arrangements, validity of sponsorship contracts, recovery of money owed by suppliers and his management style.

“We have a sit down on the 11th,” Spagnolo confirmed. “I have asked them to have the report ready and available to us. I have spoken to our solicitor about that and he is putting together the investigation.”

The investigation into Osborne’s behaviour was launched last month after allegations of financial irregularities and harassment of staff, which culminated in the resignation of Glenn Duncan – CEO of the club’s major sponsor Pirtek – from the Eels board.

“I have every confidence that I’ve acted in accordance with the terms and conditions of my employee contract,” Osborne told The Sunday Telegraph last week.

“I have no plans to stand down. I’ve done nothing wrong. I look forward to clearing my name.”

Follow @Telegraph_Sport on Twitter and like Telegraph Sport on Facebook

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/new-bullying-claim-as-parramatta-eels-ceo-paul-osborne-fights-for-job/story-e6frfgbo-1226186558588

15 August 2011
Last updated at 12:50 ET

Parents were responsible for about 25% of the online abuse suffered by teachers, the study found

School teachers have been subjected to online abuse and cyberbullying by pupils and parents, a study has found.

Research carried out by the University of Plymouth found parents were responsible for a quarter of the abuse suffered by teachers.

Nearly 400 teachers nationwide, both primary and secondary, were surveyed for Prof Andy Phippen’s study.

“From the research it appears that kids can be perpetrators as well as victims,” he told BBC News.

“The most shocking is the parental abuse.”

‘Fair game’

Researchers surveyed 377 education professionals nationwide and carried out 10 in-depth case studies.

The study revealed that 35% of respondents said that either they, or their colleagues, had been subjected to some form of online abuse.

Teachers from both primary and secondary schools had been targeted.

“It can affect teachers anywhere – from a small rural primary to a large urban secondary,” Prof Phippen said.

One head teacher suffered a breakdown and had suicidal thoughts after a “prolonged and aggressive” internet campaign staged by a parent.

“Some parents view teachers as fair game for abuse,” Prof Phippen said.

“They use online technologies to hide behind while posting lies and abuse about their chosen victim.”

The research showed pupils were responsible for most of the abuse, but in 26% of cases it was parents who played a role.

One teacher, falsely accused on the internet of “inappropriate behaviour” with a female student, said he ended up in the care of a psychologist to help him deal with “loss of self worth, depression and the urge to commit suicide”.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

If it is not stamped on, it will get worse”

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Prof Andy Phippen
University of Plymouth

He was released by police without charge, caution or reprimand, but then faced a “punitive” suspension of five months.

The teacher claimed his local authority investigation was “motivated from the outset with a staunch presumption of guilt throughout”.

Prof Phippen said discussions had taken place with teaching unions and the Department for Education (DfE), but many teachers would like to see more public awareness.

“These teachers who have been abused show the classic signs of bullying, including depression and feelings of isolation,” he said.

“Schools should not be afraid to involve the police if they feel harassment is occurring.

“Many grass-roots teachers feel there should be far more zero tolerance from schools.

‘Ability to teach’

“It is not ‘just one of those things’ and if it is not stamped on, it will get worse.”

The DfE said all bullying – regardless of method or motivation – was unacceptable.

A statement said: “The disruption and distress caused by bullying can be very damaging… whether harm was intended or not.

“This applies to teachers as well as pupils.

“Clearly if teachers are being bullied or victimised this will affect their ability to teach to the best of their ability.”

The DfE added that it was the responsibility of schools to implement policies to ensure that cyberbullying against teachers was clamped down on.

No-one from the National Union of Teachers was available to comment on Prof Phippen’s report.

A helpline has been set up to help teachers facing cyberbullying at the online website Safer Internet.

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Campaign is the vision of Westlife’s Mark Feehily

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) launches an anti-bullying awareness campaign highlighting the effect that bullying can have on young peoples’ lives; their self-esteem, their mental health and their sense of belonging.

The campaign is the vision of Westlife’s Mark Feehily and a number of well known ISPCC ambassadors (Jedward, Saoirse Ronan, Louis Walsh, Laura Whitmore) along with Mark agreed to support the campaign by being photographed as victims of bullying.

Last year the Childline service received around 2,300 calls and messages everyday from young people with almost a quarter of these contacts relating to abuse and welfare, including bullying as well as issues around mental health. Bullying can impact greatly on a young person’s development leading to isolation, loneliness, depression and low self-esteem.

In recent years there have been some high profile and tragic cases, highlighting the detrimental and sometimes fatal effect of ongoing bullying and harassment. ark Feehily said today “I know at first hand how the impact of being bullied as a teenager can quite literally last a lifetime and I thought that if we could involve well known ISPCC ambassadors perhaps people will think twice about bullying or indeed allowing bullying to happen”

Ashley Balbirnie, CEO, ISPCC said “We are very grateful to Mark Feehily and our ambassadors for their support in raising awareness of this important issue. At the ISPCC we strive to fight for children’s rights and bullying is something that is happening in many young peoples’ everyday lives. From listening to children everyday, we know this to be true. Through our Childline service we hear first hand the stories of abuse and isolation that so many are experiencing. Through this campaign we hope that many of these can find the courage to tell someone.”

Mark said “Everyone involved believes strongly that the message that emanates from each shot is a simple one. Bullying and abuse whether verbal, physical or emotional is unacceptable in today’s society”.

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http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Hanna-star-Saoirse-Ronan-among-Irish-celebrities-featured-in-anti-bullying-campaign-127334913.html

An existing California law that gives school officials the right to suspend or expel a student for bullying another student over the Internet or by other electronic means has been updated to include bullying others through social networking websites.

The bill, AB 746, sponsored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose) goes into effect Jan. 1, after it was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

“My hope is that the conversation will be more about what will happen to you if you engage in bullying on social networks,” said Campos.

The assemblywoman’s bill essentially tweaks AB 86, sponsored by then-Assemblyman and now state Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) that became law in 2009. That legislation addressed all forms of cyberbullying, including those from cell phones, computers or websites. However, social networking websites were not explicitly addressed in AB 86, and Campos said they have only grown in popularity since.

The new law provides clarity, she said.

“It’s a technicality, but it’s an important one,” said Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer. “This adds on to existing law and makes it clear.”

The nonprofit’s education programs and policy efforts seek to empower young people, parents and educators to become knowledgeable and responsible digital users.

“Clarification is never a bad thing,” agreed Marc Buller, a Santa Clara County assistant district attorney who oversees juvenile crime cases.

“Unfortunately, social networking sites have been used by young people to bully other young people.”

With the new law, he added, “there is no room for ambiguity.”

Campos said she was inspired to amend the current law after reading news stories about students who had been bullied by others through social media sites and had committed suicide.

In 2008, Del Mar High School student Amanda Brownell attempted to hang herself after what her parents and friends called a case of cyberbullying. She has been a quadriplegic since the incident, said her mother Ann Brownell, who was aware of the new law on Monday, though not entirely satisfied with it.

“Expelling someone from school for bullying is not the answer,” she said, because the students can figure out a way to continue to be active online. Instead, Brownell said, she would rather see a privilege, like a driver’s license, taken away from the bullies, “to give them something to think about.”

Contact Tracy Seipel at 408-275-0140.

Online bullying, called cyberbullying, happens when teens use the Internet, cell phones, or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Cyberbullying is a problem that affects almost half of all American teens. Whether you’ve been a victim of cyberbullying, know someone who has been cyberbullied, or have even cyberbullied yourself, there are steps you and your friends can take to stop cyberbullying and stay cyber-safe.

(more…)

PORTLAND, Ore. -

An Oregon State University student has started an online petition to convince the Portland Trail Blazers to join a major anti-bullying campaign.

John Zeller wants the Blazers to be the first NBA team to support the “It Gets Better” campaign, which was created in response to a number of gay teen suicides due to bullying.

“It would be great if the Blazers themselves would come out in support of it, specifically as an NBA team in the United States. They are kinda the ones that should be first on this bandwagon to show their support,” explained Zeller.

Politicians, actors and now athletes are part of the growing base of people who show support of the Trevor Project’s “It Gets Better” campaign by posting videos online.

Five major league baseball teams have already made videos affirming that “It Gets Better.”

The Trail Blazers Communication Vice President Traci Rose said the team thinks it’s a great idea. 

“It’s absolutely something we would stand together to support, without question,” said Rose.

Rose said that the management will use the off-season to talk with the players and the Blazers staff to brainstorm how to make a contribution.

http://www.kptv.com/story/14994614/student-petitions-blazers-to-support-anti-gay-bullying-campaign

Anti-bullying legislation headed to the governor for signature will not put an end to the tormenting aggressive behavior that has driven some students to suicide, but it gives Texas school officials more effective tools to deal with the problem.

Bullying, in the school yard and in cyberspace, is a growing problem across the country and has prompted many states to consider and adopt laws to deter bullying. More than 10 anti-bullying measures were introduced in the just-completed legislative session.

The bill approved by the Texas Legislature, sponsored by Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, requires school boards to ban bullying, including cyberbullying.

The law will require school districts to adopt policies and procedures on how to handle incidents, the type of disciplinary action they will take in such cases and the type of counseling that will be provided to victims.

School districts also must provide notice of the bullying to the parents and guardians of the bullies and the victims.

Bullying is an emotionally charged issue that has devastated many families. The families of several victims of bullying testified on behalf of many of the bullying bills considered this session.

Among them were the parents of 9-year-old Montana Lance, who hanged himself in January 2010 in the nurse’s bathroom at his elementary school in the Dallas area. They were joined by Amy and David Truong, the mother and stepfather of Asher Brown, 13, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in the Houston area.

The school bullying statistics are alarming. One out of four students is bullied, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Studies indicate that an estimated 160,000 students miss school each day for fear of being bullied.

All students have a right to attend school without being persecuted. Bullying cannot be tolerated.

This legislation is a welcome step forward in the fight against this horrific problem.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/School-bullies-will-face-punishment-1407267.php

A school official said Friday that local educators were “appalled” to learn that three male students were caught on video appearing to assault another boy in the bathroom of a middle school.

But School Committee members also defended the district’s anti-bullying programs while saying that bullying is not an easy problem to fix.

Bullying is an “ongoing battle,” said School Committee member Patricia Riley, one “we haven’t won, that’s for sure.”

“I wish there was a guarantee that you could do X, Y and Z, and nothing like this would ever happen,” Riley said. “If there is a formula for this, I wish I knew what it was. I think we’re appalled by the situation.”

In the video, obtained by The Enterprise, three students appear to restrain and attack another boy in a school bathroom at the Williams Intermediate School.

Superintendent of Schools Jacqueline Forbes said she has seen the video and police are working with school officials to investigate.

Bridgewater police and a school official both said Friday that the three alleged attackers in the video were suspended from school but they did not have further details.

Asked about possible criminal charges, Bridgewater police Lt. Tom Schlatz said on Friday, “No (criminal) charges have been filed as of yet. When the investigation is complete, if anybody deems it necessary, it will be done then.”

A student filmed the video about 2 p.m. Tuesday using his cell phone while concealing himself behind a urinal wall, said his mother, who provided the video and whose name The Enterprise is not publishing to protect her son’s identity.

The alleged victim is a special needs student, as is her son, the mother said.

In the video, it appears that one boy holds the alleged victim against the wall while another punches him in the head. A third boy walks up to the alleged victim and appears to punch him in the stomach area. The alleged victim then falls to the floor.

Forbes on Friday declined to answer any questions about the incident, the video or the suspensions and issued only the following statement:

“The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District is investigating a fight that took place at the Williams Intermediate School on Tuesday, May 17, at the close of the school day. The district is conducting an investigation into the allegation that this incident may be the result of bullying.

“The police have been notified and are working with us. The B-R Regional School District takes every allegation of bullying seriously. We investigate and will take appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with policy and statute.”

State law required all school districts to submit a bullying prevention and intervention plan before Dec. 31 to be reviewed by the Department of Education.

Bridgewater-Raynham met all deadlines and conditions, said Teri Williams Valentine, special projects coordinator for the Department of Education.

Bridgewater-Raynham’s 16-page plan mirrors most steps of the model produced by the state last summer, at times word for word.

But Quincy attorney Tina Smeaton, who is representing the mother and her son who recorded the incident, said while the district’s anti-bullying plan calls for zero tolerance, it hasn’t been followed.

She said the boy who filmed the alleged attack has been bullied by the same group of students for the last 18 months. Despite repeated notifications by his mother to school officials, Smeaton said, the bullying has continued and any actions by the school weren’t enough for the bullies to change their behavior.

“She didn’t feel her voice was being heard,” Smeaton said of the mother.

Smeaton said a meeting has been scheduled for May 31 between her clients, herself, Forbes and the school district’s attorney.

“The lines of communication are now open, which is great,” she said. “I’m hoping some changes come out of it.”

Pacy, the School Committee chairman, said the district has “clear policies” about bullying, which include suspension, but he added that the ages of those involved and specifics of the situation dictate what disciplinary action is taken.

Pacy said the behavior of the students in the video was “not acceptable” but they may have gotten caught up in the situation.

“I don’t condemn the students involved,” said Pacy, who as of Friday afternoon said he hadn’t seen the video. “I think it’s mostly their unawareness, reacting to the situation. But it’s not acceptable. Our parents, teachers and administrators have to make that very plain that it’s not acceptable.”

The Williams School, which includes grades 4 through 6, was the site of another bullying incident a year ago. Three students were suspended and ordered to write a report on Down syndrome after bullying a student on a school bus.

READ MORE about this issue.

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x1078554162/Bridgewater-school-officials-appalled-by-school-bullying-video

Bandages cover Adonte Davis’ right eye, so swollen doctors have not yet been able to remove a pellet lodged in his eye since Monday.

Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit don’t yet know whether the 8-year-old Pontiac boy will ever be able to see out of that eye again, his mother said this evening.

The damage to his eye, police say, is the result of neighborhood bullying by two 16-year-olds who forced Adonte off his bike and ordered him to do exercises. The 16-year-old accused of shooting Adonte is now charged with assault with intent to maim, with an alternative charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. The other teen, who police said had a pellet gun but never fired it, was charged with three counts of assault and battery.

“It’s just terrible that something like this happened,” said Adonte’s mother, Rochelle Allen, 34, of Pontiac. “He was just outside playing with the other little boys.”

According to Pontiac police, the two 16-year-olds, both carrying pellet guns, and two other teens approached the younger boys at about 5 p.m. Monday at the Auburn Village Town Homes at Walton and Perry, where all the boys live.

Ordering the 8-year-old off his bicycle, the teens forced the boys to perform push-ups and other exercises, threatening to shoot them if they didn’t comply, Police Chief Wendy Keelty Reyes said.

“And when this young man said, ‘No, I’m not doing this anymore,’ (he) shot him in the eye,” Reyes said about the boy. “It’s horrible.”

Antonio Saucedo, 11, who lives around the block from Adonte, said one of the teens also shot him in the leg, leaving a small wound still visible on Wednesday.

“I got shot with a (sponge-shooting) gun — he got shot with a rifle,” Antonio said. “I was a little bit scared.”

The complex sent a letter to residents Wednesday, informing them the suspects and their families will be evicted and offering to start a parent committee.

“I would like for the community to come together and bring ideas of events, programs or activities that we can provide for our children so that they can become positive successful contributors to society,” complex manager Mia Jones wrote.

The teen charged with the shooting is being held at Children’s Village in Pontiac and is expected in Oakland County Juvenile Court in Pontiac on May 30. The other teen, released to his grandparents under house arrest, is scheduled for a hearing May 23 in juvenile court.

The situation is a classic case of bullying and an imbalance of power, said Dr. Joseph L. Wright, CEO of the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and a bullying expert with the hospital’s Clinic for Bullying Related Health Problems.

“What is especially troubling, however, is the added element of a weapon that escalated the severity of the outcome,” Wright said today. “It is this toxic combination that has me generally concerned about bullying as a ’gateway’ behavior for some young people that is prelude to more serious assault behaviors and resultant violent injuries.”

Dr. Jorge C. Srabstein, medical director for the Washington clinic, which advocates for addressing bullying behaviors as a national health risk, said the age difference between the boys in the Pontiac incident is only one circumstance in a complicated issue.

While bullying most often involves children in middle and high school, particularly in sixth through ninth grade, the key characteristic is an imbalance of power — regardless of the ages of those involved.

“You have three victims here: it’s not only the victim, but also the aggressors are suffering from something,” Srabstein said. “And there’s where you have the disconnect because it doesn’t make sense. It wouldn’t make sense even if they did it to a 12-year-old or someone older than them.”

Victims and perpetrators of bullying often show symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress, like difficulty sleeping and nightmares; flashbacks of the bullying and hearing the voice of the perpetrator; frequent headaches; severe anxiety and frequent episodes of depression; and suicidal attempts or death.

Srabstein said programs by local schools and communities that identify bullying behavior and foster a sense of empathy can reduce the rate of bullying by 30% to 40%.

“And those programs should include all children, all parents and the community in general,” he said. “But the problem is that bullying will occur no matter what you do. If it happens, it should be reported.”

Pontiac school district officials did not respond to requests for comment today.

On a warm spring evening at the Seaside Dance studio in Westerly, troupe members used their nimble limbs to send a message: Bullying hurts.

Eleven- to 18-year-olds in black leotards pirouetted through Adam Lambert’s “Mad World,” tap-danced to “Mean Girls” by Sugarland and used modern dance moves to simulate a suicide in Pearl Jam’s grunge classic, “Jeremy.”

In their award-winning “Take a Stand” number, the girls called out statistics about bullying, and together they have a strong voice, for every last one has a story to tell about being treated cruelly by their contemporaries.

It does not matter that they are bright, beautiful young ladies. All have been stung, and they say bullying is escalating, mostly because kids have near-constant access to phones and computers.

“People say stuff over texting and Facebook that they wouldn’t say to your face,” said Katelyn McElkenny, 16. “In school the next day, they act like it never happened.”

The dancers said Formspring, a relatively new social networking site used by teenagers, ostensibly to learn more about each other by asking questions, has become a magnet for bullies who can bash others anonymously.

The dance studio is a refuge where they can put down their cellphones and count on support from each other and their instructors. For 11-year-old Jahnessa Shuler of Pawcatuck, Seaside was a lifeline during what she described as tortured elementary school years.

For another dancer, who asked that her name not be used, the worst bullying occurred in middle school, where classmates created a Facebook page that poked fun at her. Her father worked with the school and Facebook to remove the page and said he monitors his daughter’s online activity.

“In the old days, kids threw sticks and stones,” the father said in a phone interview. “Now they have new things to throw at each other.”

Taking bullying seriously

Throughout the region and the country, children and their parents are reporting problems with bullying on a daily basis. Kids say they are targeted because of their height, weight, race or sexual orientation. They are picked on because of their accents, clothing or hairstyles, or if they have an acne breakout. Some don’t know why they have become targets or why people they thought were their friends are bullying them.

Occasionally, families and communities are shocked by reports that a teenage suicide was the result of bullying. In Montville, classmates of a 10th-grader who committed suicide in January said bullying might have pushed him to kill himself. The teen’s family has not spoken publicly about the incident and declined to comment for this article. State police are investigating.

Bullying sometimes leads to criminal acts, as in the case of three teenagers in New London who allegedly tormented a 12-year-old boy with BB guns last month, laughing as he begged them to spare his life. The three boys, who videotaped the incident with a cellphone, were arrested. Their cases are pending in juvenile court.

One of the most common complaints from bullying victims and their families is that school officials did not respond when told of the problem. Under Connecticut law, every school must have a bullying policy and a prevention and intervention strategy and must report all verified incidents of bullying to the state Department of Education. The annual reports of bullying incidents are available upon request at schools.

The bullying law is aimed at having schools respond appropriately by helping the victims feel safe and supported and taking disciplinary action when bullying is confirmed. When police get involved, the “bully” is typically charged with breach of peace or harassment.

Curtailing bullying can be as simple as beefing up adult presence during recesses, lunches and in hallways, which New London Superintendent Nicholas Fischer said has been done in his district. At Norwich Free Academy, which has an extensive campus safety department, students are reminded they can report incidents to many adults, not just the main office. Groton enables students and parents to go online to report bullying incidents.

“If you’re going to combat bullying you have to have a well-known, well-structured mechanism for reporting, and the students on campus have to feel that it is going to be taken seriously,” said Jason Shirley, a social worker at Norwich Free Academy. “There’s never a situation here where someone is going to say, ‘Tough, just deal with it.’ ”

The Connecticut General Assembly is considering a bill that would add cyber bullying to the existing law.

“If you commit an act of bullying in person, there is always that fear of consequences, like from the school or police,” Shirley said. “When you’re operating online, there is a cognitive removal from the fact that this action you’re taking might have consequences.”

The bill has made it through the Education and Judiciary committees with support from both political parties. It is unclear if it will come to a vote during the remainder of the legislative session.

Changing schools helped

Jahnessa Shuler, the 11-year-old dancer from Pawcatuck, said kids bullied her beginning in kindergarten. Her mother, Tiffany Johnston, said Jahnessa always wore the latest fashions, smiled and tried to make friends, but there was a disconnect with Jahnessa’s peers that she didn’t understand.

In chorus rehearsal, a group of girls sat behind Jahnessa, tossed things at her head and kicked her chair. Girls called her “dirty”; she is of mixed race and her glowing brown skin is darker than theirs. They teased her about the texture of her hair and nicknamed her “bug eyes.”

“It just progressed and got worse,” Jahnessa said in an interview. “I wasn’t doing good in school. I was always playing by myself. When we were building something, I would go up to people and say, ‘Want to be my partner?’ They would say ‘no.’ “

In the summer before fifth grade, she’d had enough. At camp, she had no one to play with. “I would try to make friends and that wasn’t really successful. Once I got there I would start to cry because of all the people playing together, and I would just sit there,” she said.

Jahnessa missed a lot of school and her grades slipped. She spent a lot of time in the nurse’s office. She acted out at home. In the middle of the school year, she tried to kill herself.

“I was so depressed and there were so many things going on. I just tried to stop it myself. I didn’t want to go on,” she said.

Her mother said she was hospitalized and received counseling. Jahnessa said dance class helped a lot.

Today, Jahnessa is thriving. She attends the Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication, a charter school in New London that she and her mother said they felt from their first visit would be a place where the adults would do something about bullying. She bonded with a couple of girls and now, like other girls her age, she is on the phone all the time with friends. When she did have a problem, the school stepped in immediately. Jahnessa and another girl had a spat that began on Facebook that led to blows being exchanged in a bathroom. Her mother learned of the dispute while monitoring her daughter’s Facebook account.

“My mom called the school, and the school actually did something,” Jahnessa said. “We had to sit in the room with each other. A mediator said that in cyberspace things never go away. We both apologized to each other, and now we’re, like, friends.”

Solving problems

Bullying became part of the national discussion on teenage violence when two socially isolated boys committed the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999 but, here in southeastern Connecticut, it has been part of the conversation even longer.

Anne Wernau, a community educator for the Women’s Center of Southeastern Connecticut, started the “Violence is Preventable” program in 1992, when her youngest daughter was a sixth-grader in Waterford.

Today, the Women’s Center delivers the grant-funded program to schools in New London, Norwich, Bozrah, Groton and Griswold. The VIP program uses “Second Step” and “Steps to Respect” curricula from the Seattle-based Committee for Children. Lessons are tailored to elementary, middle and high school students.

At New London’s Winthrop School one afternoon, retired Norwich teacher Joyce Werden gave a lesson about contagious feelings to second-graders. She read Charlotte Zolotow’s “The Quarreling Book,” in which family members pass negative feelings to each other until their fun-loving dog turns the mood positive. She asked the class to draw a diagram with happy faces connected by arrows. She ended the lesson with friendly words from her puppet, Mr. Bushytail, and used a stick to tease soothing vibrations from a song bowl.

Winthrop School Principal Jaye Wilson said the 13-week program reinforces the school’s discipline plan and “pays in dividends” when the kids learn social skills and solve problems themselves. At this age, tattling, shoving and name-calling are a challenge.

“As educators, we don’t pay attention to getting-along skills until we hit middle school, and then the problem is really bad,” Werden said.

Don’t be a bystander

A few weeks later, Wernau and Kris Wraight from the Women’s Center conducted a lesson for sixth-graders at Groton’s West Side Middle School. They drew an imaginary line on the classroom floor and asked students to “cross the line” if they have experienced various types of bullying. All but two crossed when asked if they had been called bad names. All crossed when asked if they had ever seen someone teased. A few crossed when asked if they had been picked on because of religion, race or skin color. About two-thirds crossed when asked if they have ever stood by and watched someone being bullied and felt ashamed.

After class, 12-year-old Klay Ferguson said he has been bullied a lot by one student in particular, who calls him “fat” and “gay” and that the cruel words have left scars.

“I try to just ignore him, and the principal is trying to help me,” he said. “My mom says, ‘You’ll be OK.’ ”

His classmate, Michael Paige, said he has seen some of the bullying incidents and that he tends to be a bystander.

“I don’t think it’s that bad of a problem, but the few people who do it, they do it constantly,” he said.

During the lesson, both the adults and children acknowledged that everyone knows who the bullies are in their grade.

Around the state, grass-roots initiatives such as Norwich’s Bully-Busters group are urging young people to become “upstanders” rather than “bystanders” when they see bullying.

“In psychology, we call it diffusion of responsibility,” said Shirley, from NFA. “People who are not necessarily the agitators see it going on. The more people standing by, the more feeling there is that they are less responsible.”

k.florin@theday.com

http://www.theday.com/article/20110508/NWS01/305089917/-1/NWS