Numerous school shootings could have been prevented if students who knew about violent plans had shared that information with adults. Surveys have found that as much of 75% of the incidence of bullying at school are not brought to the attention of adults. Why kids won’t talk with adults about safety concerns Why don’t students […]
Blog Archives
Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy provides bullying, media training for new generation of safety leaders
A new generation of superintendents, principals, teachers, school resource officers, and other school-community leaders embarked on their first round of training on Wednesday at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy (ISSSA). A record number of more than 330 participants learned best practices in school law, managing bullying without new programs and expenses, and managing media and parent communications […]
Taking the “bull” out of bullying and school safety training
School boards and administrators do not need new programs and expenses to manage bullying. In fact, most school districts already have strategies and services in place to adequately address school bullying. Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing this message to about 100 school board members, superintendents and top school district administrators who registered for […]
Mom arms gay son with stun gun to confront school bullying
An Indiana gay male high school student’s mother had a legitimate concern about her son being the victim of bullying, but she made a poor choice by arming him with a stun gun. The bully victim was apprehended by school police and subsequently expelled for brandishing the stun gun after he was reportedly confronted by […]
How the anti-bullying movement is setting kids up to fail
The world will be a perfect place if we just pass anti-bullying laws that outlaw bullying, incivility, intolerance, dirty looks, disagreements that are not pleasant, and just about anything else that is not Kumbaya. At least that seems to be the perspective of anti-bullying activists who have jumped on the bullying bandwagon the past few years. […]
Why legislation won’t stop bullying, online or otherwise
State and federal anti-bullying laws are unnecessary and ineffective. This doesn’t set well with many anti-bullying, civil rights, and other political activists and advocates lobbying for state and federal laws. But what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular. A recent Plain Dealer newspaper article (CSU symposium attendees seek […]
House Proposes Cuts to 2011 School Emergency Planning Grants
First the Obama Administration proposed eliminating K-12 school emergency planning grants from the 2012 federal budget. Now, it appears the House Appropriations Committee is calling to eliminate the funds from this year’s 2011 budget! In a Friday press release on $4 billion in spending cuts as a part of a proposed short term government funding Continuing […]
Why Disagreeing or Challenging an Idea is Not “Incivility”
The latest politically-correct buzzword of the day, incivility, sounds good on the surface. After all, who could be against a more “civil” society? The Resurrection of “Civility” and the Push for Kumbaya The problem is that the issue has been pushed to the forefront in a political context. The buzz started with the Obama Administration […]
School Boards Challenge Education Dept Civil Rights Bullying Order
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is challenging the federal Education Department’s “expansive reading of the law” in which the Department redefines bullying as potential federal civil rights violations. The Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a 10-page “Dear Colleagues Letter” (DCL) to the nation’s schools on October 26th in which the Department redefined discipline […]
Study: No Link Between Large High Schools & Bullying Victimization
An illusion. That’s how a University of Virginia study describes the perceived link between large high schools and higher student victimization of bullying. A November 2010 Journal of Educational Psychology article entitled, “Is the link between large high schools and student victimization an illusion?,” reports the rate of bullying offenses was actually lower in larger schools. Similar […]