SUBSTANTIAL Disruption

Legislature approves bill to crack down on bullying in schools

Mike Tully — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:02:38 +0000

AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill that toughens Maine’s stance on bullying in schools won legislative approval this week after months of revisions.

The measure, LD 1237, provides educators and administrators with a clear definition of bullying, explicitly forbids bullying behavior, offers schools alternative discipline strategies, and outlines prevention policies and training for teachers.

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Norton school bully survey shows more incidents than actually reported (MA)

Mike Tully — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:58 +0000

NORTON – Many students who feel bullied at school are still not reporting the abuse to teachers or administrators, with some saying the taunts and teasing occurs within supposedly safe confines of the classroom, according to a recently released survey of students.

Jennifer O’Neill, the district’s curriculum director, presented the school committee with the survey results this week.

The most recent survey comes after a baseline survey in October.

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Studies on Multitasking Highlight Value of Self-Control

Mike Tully — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:54:15 +0000

For a generation of children immersed in technology, emerging research suggests that while the temptation to multitask may be pervasive, the ability to control it could be the real bellwether of academic success.

Those under 18 multitask more often and more extensively than previous generations, says Larry D. Rosen, the author of the 2012 book iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us. On average, he found, 13- to 18-year-olds use more than six types of media simultaneously during out-of-school time.

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Girls face ‘sexting’ threat from peers

Mike Tully — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:18:11 +0000

A report commissioned by the NSPCC, conducted in collaboration with King’s College London, reveals the level that ‘sexting’ has reached among teenagers, with schoolgirls facing increasing pressure to provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves, a threat that appears to come from friends and peers rather than strangers.

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Parent bullies a ‘growing trend’ (AU)

Mike Tully — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:16:10 +0000

Teachers are increasingly being bullied, yelled at, and in rarer cases, physically assaulted by some assertive parents who believe they have an ”inalienable right to scream and demand things for their children,” the NSW Teachers Federation says.

More than 80 per cent of the 2500 teachers and school staff surveyed say they have been bullied by parents, according to research in a new book by academics, Deirdre Duncan, Dan Riley and John Edwards.

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School district plans community discussions about bullying (MN)

Mike Tully — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:14:42 +0000

Rochester schools Superintendent Michael Muñoz said the district is in the early stages of planning public meetings that would focus and encourage a community-wide discussion on the looming problem of bullying in the schools.

“I’ve had some conversations with our community partners, and I think we’re looking at some type of World Cafe-type discussions inviting our community to come and talk about this,” Muñoz said Tuesday at a regular meeting of the Rochester School Board. The district recently used World Cafe discussions to develop a strategic plan.

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So How Do We Talk About This?

Mike Tully — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:49:46 +0000

When Children See Internet Pornography

PARENTS have learned to expect, and often dread, two sex talks with their children: the early lesson about the “birds and the bees” and the more delicate discussion of how to navigate a healthy sexual life as a young adult.

But now they are wrestling with a third: the pornography talk.

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Springfield mother charged with harassment, accused of cyberbullying a 14-year-old on Facebook

Mike Tully — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:07:06 +0000

Springfield police say a mother threatened to kill a 14-year-old girl on Facebookusing racial slurs. Officers say the woman’s son had a child with the young girl. The teenager who is referred to only by her initials in court documents told officers she posted that Crystal Smith’s son did not call or visit their child on Christmas. After that post, police say Smith sent a lengthy, threatening message to the 14-year-old.

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Orie: Make cyber bullying a crime in state (PA)

Mike Tully — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:05:07 +0000

High technology has gotten ahead of state law when it comes to Internet abuse involving children hassling other children, and one state senator hopes to do something about it.

A new generation of middle and high school students is using computers to intimidate classmates and create phony Web sites that subject them to public ridicule.

“This is a new level than what we saw in our generation,” said state Sen. Jane Orie, R-Bradford Woods.

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Romney hair-cutting prank: School leaders say similar incidents today would bring punishment

Mike Tully — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:47:16 +0000

Many of today’s principals would be likely to throw the book at a student who pinned down a classmate and clipped his hair, as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney did as a high school senior in 1965.

Romney was not disciplined at the time. If such an attack happened in the public schools of 2012, it would probably lead to suspension and might also be referred for expulsion, a number of local school leaders said following a Washington Post report of the incident involving Romney.

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