Marshalltown Times-Republican Publisher Mike Schlesinger with Marshall County Sheriff Ted G. Kamatchus.
The local Not In Our Town group in Marshalltown, IA offers its help on a piece of legislation that will strengthen anti-bullying policies and provide training on bullying prevention statewide.
The legislation, House Study Bill 525, is currently circulating in the House Education Committee and relates to state and school anti-harassment policies and professional conduct and ethics for school personnel. Not In Our Town Marshalltown chair Mike Schlesinger, also the publisher of the Marshalltown Times-Republican, offered the group’s input to the representatives tasked to the bill.
Blog
February 6, 2014 - 1:52pm
In November, a high school student wearing a skirt was set on fire on an Oakland, CA city bus. Sasha Fleischman identifies as agender and prefers to go by the pronoun “they.” In the weeks after the hate attack, many conversations ensued about hate and acceptance alongside dialogue about the way we talk about gender. Here, Mazique Bianco explores gender terms directly, pointing to the empathy and compassion in each of us.
By Mazique Bianco
February 4, 2014 - 4:06pm
At the secondary level, for Black History Month, we share this video, "Profiling Kevin," featuring a 16-year-old anti-racism activist, and “Extraordinary Upstander: Brian Cox,” featuring the former pro football player who came back as a community leader in his native Los Angeles.
Extraordinary Upstander: Kevin Ward
"Profiling Kevin," features Kevin Ward, a young man who steps up as a leader in his high school as he addresses issues of inequity, Standing in a classroom at Palo Alto High School, he tells his classmates, "We need to ... take a bite of the apple of knowledge and realize where we stand and where we need to go."
Click here to find the video and accompanying lesson plan.
January 30, 2014 - 10:31am
In this new video geared toward elementary schools, students from Grimmer Elementary School in Fremont, CA explore the impact of bullying and ways to be an upstander.
After intermediate students share personal experiences, they decide to take action and invent the "Leaving a Positive Footprint" activity, where students paint blue fooprints with positive messages "walking" though their campus. Later, they work with first grade buddies to discuss bullying and speaking up, and together they make paper footprint cut-outs and create their own Upstander messages to post around the school.
January 27, 2014 - 5:32pm
Some of the best intentions to get students to stop bullying by hammering in the risk of suicide may indeed be driving youth to take their lives. In our blog, “Bullying and Suicide: Clarifying Misconceptions," we addressed common misconceptions surrounding bullying and suicide. Here we explore how students, educators and the media can be part of the solution and help make our schools safe and inclusive for all.