Anti-Theft Lunch Bag: A Solution to the Stolen Lunch Problem via Lynne Diligent at Dilemmas of an Expat Tutor. She suggests using a magic marker on the outside of the lunch bag to deter thieves and bullies.
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Anti-bullying bullies attack free speech
January 21, 2012 By Joanne
A debate on gay adoption in a Wisconsin school newspaper turned into a lesson on the dangers of anti-bullying over-reach, writes Eugene Volokh.
The Shawano High School newspaper decided to run dueling student opinion pieces on whether same-sex couples should be able to adopt children; the student article that answered the question “no” said, among other things, quotes Leviticus 20:13 (“If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”). The school district then publicly apologized for the column, as an “[o]ffensive article[] cultivating a negative environment of disrespect,” and said that it is “taking steps to prevent items of this nature from happening in the future.” And in a Fox interview, the school superintendent labeled the column a form of “bullying.”
Public schools can decide to control what’s published in student newspapers, writes Volokh, a law professor. But labeling a student’s opinion as “bullying” is troubling. Under district policy, “bullying” may lead to “warning, suspension, exclusion, pre-expulsion, expulsion, transfer, remediation, termination, or discharge.”
The Shawano incident shows how easy it is for schools to define “bullying” to include “political advocacy and expression of religious views,” Volokh writes.
Schools and anti-bullying activists have adopted “overbroad definitions of bullying,” argues Hans Bader on Open Market. When “eye-rolling” can be defined as bullying, the First Amendment is in trouble, he writes.
Filed Under: Free Speech Tagged With: bullying, free speech, gay adoption, homosexuality, school newspaper
Cyberbaiting teachers is on the rise
January 7, 2012 By Joanne
Cyberbaiting teachers — provoking a rant that can be recorded on a cell phone, then posted on YouTube — is on the rise, reports Yahoo. Students have posted dozens of videos of teachers ”flipping out” as students jeer: “A music teacher smashes a violin; another spits on a student in full classroom meltdown.”
Recently the cyber security company Norton reported that 21 percent of teachers worldwide either experienced cyberbaiting themselves or knew a colleague who was cyberbaited. Many lose their jobs after their outbursts, even though students were the provocateurs.
All teachers need to remember that “the eyes of the world are watching every second,” warns Lynne Diligent, who teaches at an elite school in a Middle Eastern country where adolescents think it’s “cool” to mock teachers.
Filed Under: Education Tagged With: bullying, cyberbaiting, teachers, YouTube
Hess: Top 10 edu-stories of 2012
December 29, 2011 By Joanne
Why wait for 2012, when Rick Hess has the top Ten Edu-Stories We’ll Be Reading in the new year?
Among his headlines of the future: “GOP presidential nominee abandons primary season attacks on Department of Education; talks up education reform in push for moderates.” Meanwhile, Republicans will feud over Common Core standards, he predicts.
Despite doubts about Race to the Top’s implementation, ”Obama campaign makes Race to the Top, push on college affordability a centerpiece in effort to woo suburban swing voters.”
Hess also foresees a backlash against aggressive anti-bullying campaigns after elementary school boys are suspended for tussling and name-calling. (Think zero tolerance.)
Rewriting No Child Left Behind will be left till 2013, he predicts.
Finally: “Mixed results for the Khan Academy‘s ‘flipped’ classroom lead some educators and policymakers to worry that the model doesn’t work for kids who don’t do the requisite work at home. One expert notes, ‘The kids who didn’t do their reading or homework before are the same kids who aren’t viewing their lessons and lectures now.’”
Filed Under: College, Education Tagged With: bullying, Common Core, Khan Academy, No Child Left Behind, politics, race to the top
Empowering bullies’ victims
November 17, 2011 By Joanne
To Stop School Bullying: Fix the Victims, argues Hans Villarica in The Atlantic. He cites a new study in Child Development led by University of Illinois Psychology Professor Karen D. Rudolph that looks at why second graders “retaliate, ignore, or repair relationships after an attack.”
Half of the children reported being the object of taunts, gossip, or intimidation.
. . . kids who wanted to be popular and feel superior tended to retaliate impulsively. Those who wanted to appear cool by avoiding criticisms were more likely to pretend like nothing happened. And those who were genuinely interested in fostering friendships tended to react in healthful, positive ways. They asked their teacher for advice, sought emotional support, and found means to solve the tension with those who harassed them.
Victims who tried to improve their relationships suffered less from bullying.
A previous study on mistreated kids in middle school also found that responding to bullies violently, impulsively, or in over-the-top ways can make the abused less accepted and a more attractive target to aggressors.
In short, punching the bully may not be the best strategy. (I have to think sometimes it is.)
Children who believed friendships are fixed, succeeding or failing without their involvement, tended to be more enamored with popularity and may be more vengeful as a result. On the contrary, those who viewed their friendships as works in progress tended to appreciate their peers more and interact more responsibly. “If children believe that effort is worthwhile, they’ll feel less threatened or helpless when they hit bumps in their relationships,” she says, “and they’ll be more likely to try to resolve relationship problems.”
What works in elementary school, such as seeking help from teachers, may not work in middle or high school, Villarica points out.
Indeed, even though anti-bullying advocates are correct in saying ‘it gets better,’ it may also be important to note that it’s going to get a lot worse first.
This reminds me of psychologist Carol Dweck’s work on students’ “fixed” or “growth” mindsets. Students who think intelligence is fixed — you’re smart or you’re not — won’t work as hard or take as many challenges as students who believe they can improve. (Her book is Mindset.)
To encourage learning — and resilience — we need to encourage kids to believe their efforts make a difference.
Filed Under: Children Tagged With: bullying, Carol Dweck, Mindset, resilience, victims
Asian-Americans face more school bullying
October 31, 2011 By Joanne
Asian-American students endure more bullying than others, a new study finds. Fifty-four percent of Asian-American teenagers said they were bullied in the classroom, compared to 38.4 percent of blacks, 34.3 percent of Hispanics and 31.3 percent of whites.
The disparity was even more striking for cyber-bullying.
Some 62 percent of Asian Americans reported online harassment once or twice a month, compared with 18.1 percent of whites.
The data comes from a 2009 survey by the U.S. Justice Department and Education Department which interviewed 6,500 students from ages 12 to 18.
Filed Under: Children, Education Tagged With: Asian-Americans, bullying, cyberbullying
Be ‘nice’ — or else
September 21, 2011 By Joanne
At Back to School Night, the principal talked for 20 minutes about draconian new anti-bullying rules, writes Laura on 11D.
If a student is caught picking on another student, because of some perceived physical, sexual, ethnic, or neurological difference, the bully will have a permanent mark on his record. Schools are legally required to monitor this behavior, which can happen outside of school grounds or even on the Internet.
Jonah attended school presentations on the topic. His school is particularly sensitive about bullying, because the Rutgers boy who killed himself after being mocked for being gay, had attended Jonah’s middle school.
At Ian’s school, the principal of his special needs school was also alarmed. She viewed this law, which was clearly designed to help kids with neurological differences, as a potential landmine for our kids. Kids with neurological differences have no social filter and think nothing of going up to people to inform that they are overweight. Could their innocent social blunders be construed as acts of bullying?
Laura wonders if the law will be effective.
Won’t smart, mean kids inflict pain in very subtle ways that wouldn’t be picked up by this law? The silent treatment is a very effective method of bullying.
The principals at both schools saw the law as a “bureaucratic nightmare,” Laura writes.
I don’t think anti-bullying campaigns should stress the motivation for bullying. It doesn’t matter if the victim is singled out because he’s different or because he’s convenient.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will speak today at the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C., which will run through tomorrow.
Filed Under: Education Tagged With: bullying, gay students, New Jersey
Teaching about 9/11
September 9, 2011 By Joanne
Teachers are trying to explain 9/11 to students who don’t remember it very well — or at all. A variety of lesson ideas and resources are available, but most teachers are on their own, reports AP.
New York City’s updated Sept. 11 curriculum “includes tips on how to help students cope with learning about the horrors of that day, a study of the art inspired by the terrorist attacks and a history of the building of the 9/11 memorial.”
The Sept. 11 Education Trust also has come out with lesson plans. It was founded by Anthony Gardner, whose 30-year-old brother, died in the World Trade Center.
New Jersey has adopted, but not required, a curriculum developed by families of 9/11 victims, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
(Maryellen) Salamone said the loss of her husband “inspired me and I inspired the curriculum, and maybe the curriculum will inspire hundreds and thousands of kids. Then, one death will make a huge difference and I can sleep better at night.”
John Salamone, 37, died in the World Trade Center, leaving his wife and three young children.
“Learning From the Challenges of Our Times: Global Security, Terrorism, and 9/11 in the Classroom” is a free online K-12 curriculum.
Derrick Owings, a Cherry Hill High School West teacher will teach the 9/11 course to his ninth-grade world civilization classes and 11th- and 12th-grade psychology classes.
“We’ll look at the psychology of terrorism,” he said. “What makes a seemingly rational, mentally healthy human being into a terrorist?
“And from a world civilization side,” he said, “we’ll look at the history of human behavior through conflict and turmoil. One man’s terrorist is another man’s patriot.”
Fordham’s Teaching about 9/11 in 2011 highlights “the danger of slighting history and patriotism in the rush to teach children about tolerance and multiculturalism.”
“What one wants to know, however, is whether the rest of the curriculum is there, too: the civics part, the history part, the harsher lessons about how difficult it is to safeguard American values from those who despise them in an increasingly menacing world,” Chester E. Finn Jr. writes in the introduction.
Some teaching materials are excellent, Finn believes, citing the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s lessons for high school students, which are used in New York City. “Others, alas, are wimpy, biased, or apologetic and may well do teachers and pupils more harm than good.” Exhibit A: The U.S. Education Departent’s 9/11 Materials for Teachers.
The Education Department’s resource list doesn’t lead off with history, writes Valerie Strauss on Answer Sheet.
The first item is this: “Positive School Climate and 911 — Resources for helping create and maintain a positive school climate and preventing bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
Answer Sheet lists other teaching resources from the National History Education Clearinghouse’s In Remembrance: Teaching September 11.
Smithsonian Institute K-12 lessons
9-11 Commission records on how and why Sept. 11 happened
School Library Journal lessons
National Geographic Remembering 9-11
Anti-bullying law stresses NJ schools
September 1, 2011 By Joanne
A new anti-bullying law requires New Jersey schools to police campuses and online communications to protect students, reports the New York Times. But superintendents and school boards complain they’re being asked to do more with the same resources.
Under a new state law in New Jersey, lunch-line bullies in the East Hanover schools can be reported to the police by their classmates this fall through anonymous tips to the Crimestoppers hot line.
In Elizabeth, children, including kindergartners, will spend six class periods learning, among other things, the difference between telling and tattling.
And at North Hunterdon High School, students will be told that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to bullying: if they see it, they have a responsibility to try to stop it.
The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights “demands that all public schools adopt comprehensive antibullying policies (there are 18 pages of “required components”), increase staff training and adhere to tight deadlines for reporting episodes,” reports the Times.
Each school must designate an antibullying specialist to investigate complaints; each district must, in turn, have an antibullying coordinator; and the State Education Department will evaluate every effort, posting grades on its Web site. Superintendents said that educators who failed to comply could lose their licenses.
School officials also worry about lawsuits.
Most bullying complaints involve Internet comments that lead to campus confrontations, says Richard Bergacs, an assistant principal at North Hunterdon High. “It’s gossip, innuendo, rumors — and people getting mad about it.”
This summer, thousands of school employees attended training sessions on the new law; more than 200 districts have snapped up a $1,295 package put together by a consulting firm that includes a 100-page manual and a DVD.
Westfield Superintendent Margaret Dolan worries that students and their parents “will find it easier to label minor squabbles bullying than to find ways to work out their differences.”
The law was motivated by the suicide of a Rutgers freshman, Tyler Clementi, whose gay sexual encounter was secretly filmed and aired online by his college roommate.
Filed Under: Education Tagged With: bullying, cyberbullying, gossip, New Jersey, online, suicide, Tyler Clementi
Anti-bullying drive hits students’ rights
August 27, 2011 By Joanne
Anti-bullying campaigns are infringing on students’ rights to free association, argues attorney Hans Bader.
For example, some schools are trying to regulate birthday invitations: All classmates — or all classmates of the same sex — must be invited so unpopular kids don’t feel left out. (My mother told me I couldn’t invite almost all the girls in my kindergarten class. It was all or half.)
Using politically-correct psychobabble about “power relationships,” some psychologists have sought to redefine bullying to include wielding “popularity,” not just violence. For example, a recent survey by a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia, Dewey Cornell, defined bullying as “the use of one’s strength or popularity to injure, threaten or embarrass another person on purpose,” and defined it to include “verbal” or “social” behavior, not just “physical” assaults and intimidation.
Nobully.com defines “eye rolling” as a form of bullying, Bader writes. “Relational bullying” includes disrupting “another student’s peer relationships through leaving them out, gossiping, whispering and spreading rumors.” It’s hard to imagine a school on Planet Earth in which everybody is friends with everybody else and nobody gossips, whispers or spreads rumors.
A victim of violent bullying as a child — and one rarely invited to birthday parties – Bader thinks “these overbroad definitions of bullying trivialize actual bullying.”
Filed Under: Education Tagged With: birthday parties, bullying, free association, gossip, Nobully.com, popularity
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