When her daughter began to cry regularly about going to school and called each day at 2:58 p.m. to ask her mother, through her tears, not to be late for pick-up, Marie Daniels knew she had a serious problem.
The verbal bullying that was causing her daughter so much distress was unrelenting, a daily torment that was making the girl’s life miserable.
(NOTE: These terms first appeared in Nancy Willard’s work, “Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats.” They have become part of the national lexicon and Nancy rarely receives the attribution she deserves. You can purchase her book through this website by clicking on the ad to the right. Also, be aware and tell your colleagues that Nancy Willard will be chairing a historic full day panel on cyberbullying on November 15, 2010, during the International Bullying Prevention Association’s 7th Annual Conference in Seattle. You can visit the conference website by clicking here. — Mike)
Cyberbullying is the use of e-mail, texting, social networking or other computer communication to intentionally harm someone. Experts see it in many forms:
Put your phones and iPods away during class. It’s a message students expect from teachers. But, it’s also the message a group of Cape Henlopen High School students are sending to their peers. During the summer, students have filmed video messages that will be played at Cape Henlopen High School in the coming school year.
In a recent study released by The Nielsen Company, it was determined that 54% of kids who use popular networking websites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter don’t actually know everyone on their “friend” lists. In a world where the internet is a playground for child predators, that number is downright scary.
(From the Washington Post. Further evidence of mass bullying behavior in the U.S. – Mike)
A group of children leaving a Bridgeport, Connecticut mosque last week, as reported by the Connecticut Post, had to brace themselves as they walked past a group of about a dozen Christian protestors yelling “Islam is a lie” and “Jesus hates Muslims.”
One man shoved his sign at them and yelled, “Murderers!” Flip Benham, organizer of the protest, explained, “This is a war in America and we are taking it to the mosques around the country.”
Watertown school officials amended the district’s student handbook to include an expanded definition of bullying, and have begun crafting a policy to protect students and comply with new state law, School Committee members said.
(NOTE: I included this piece from naplesnews.com because the media has failed to identify one of the components of the current hysteria over the Islamic community center in lower Manhattan a couple of blocks from the site of the World Trade Center attack: bullying. The First Amendment is a profound anti-bullying provision because it gives voice to the powerless and helps guard against a tyranny of the majority. One does not dishonor the lost and shattered lives by pointing out that the opposition to the community center is based on demagoguery and fear-mongering. What does dishonor them is embracing the kind of tactic that encourages the clash of civilizations that the terrorists so badly want. This is a blog dedicated to bullying and cyberbullying issues, not politics. However, this big political story is also a bullying event — and should be regarded as such. — Mike)
On Aug. 6 the Connecticut Post reported that “about a dozen right-wing Christians, carrying placards and yelling ‘Islam is a lie,’ angrily confronted worshippers. ‘Jesus hates Muslims,’ they screamed at worshippers arriving at the Masjid An-Noor mosque to prepare for the holy month of Ramadan. One protester shoved a placard at a group of young children leaving the mosque. ‘Murderers,’ he shouted.”
On Aug. 14, Newt Gingrich equated Islam with Nazism.
Closer to home, a Gainesville church is planning an “International Burn a Quran Day” this Sept. 11.
Senator Kemp Hannon announced this week that Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) will help the Senator lead the charge against bullying and cyber-bullying in New York State by opening a Bully Prevention Center next month.
(NOTE: Dr. Susan Limber, who is quoted extensively in this piece, will be presenting at the 7th Annual Conference of the International Bullying Prevention Association this November 15-17 in Seattle. One of Dr. Limber’s co-presenters will be Dr. Dan Olweus, a widely respected pioneer in bullying research. For more information on the conference please click here.)
Calling attention to one of education’s fastest growing problems, Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Aug. 11 spoke at the nation’s first “Bullying Prevention Summit” to incite a call to action, as well as invite government officials, behavioral experts, and education organizations to brainstorm scalable solutions to bullying in classrooms nationwide.
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