By Becki Cohn-Vargas, Not In Our School Director
Bullying
This is Part 2 in a three-part series featuring content from Variety magazine's special issue on Violence & Entertainment, which encourages a variety of voices to speak up and address possible solutions to this national problem. See Part 1 here.
As part of the special issue, Variety offered this compelling graphic about student experiences with violence, as well as featuring efforts to address bullying.
Every day we receive calls for help from schools looking to address bullying on their campuses. Help make your school safer with our Not In Our School resources.
The battle against bullying
"I was a victim and a bully and I could have continued that cycle of violence, but I didn’t. I chose a different path."NIOS Director Becki Cohn-Vargas met teen Melvin Mendez when he contacted her for support around his senior project on bullying at Lighthouse Charter School in Oakland, CA. Over the course of the year, she and Melvin met many times as he planned an ambitious project to research bullying and then proceed to educate his teachers, along with fellow students and parents.
She discovered later that she was the first person who heard his story of being bullied, one that not even his mother learned until recently. Now Melvin has begun to train fifth graders at his school. Melvin received a standing ovation when he delivered this speech to afterschool coordinators and teachers at the Bridging the Bay Conference in Oakland, CA on Feb. 2.
NIOS table at the Bridging the Bay Conference in February.
By Melvin Mendez
In BULLY, filmmaker Lee Hirsch graphically portrays the tragedy of bullying to catalyze everyone to be part of the solution. The BULLY Educator DVD & Toolkit, which includes Not In Our School videos and resources, is now available for pre-order.
Hirsch recently won the the Stanley Kramer Award of the Producers Guild of America. According to 2013 PGA Awards Chair Michael De Luca, “BULLY sparked a movement, sparked a shift in consciousness and rallied people of all ages to stand up against intolerance and hate. It’s a film that I believe Stanley Kramer himself would applaud and we’re thrilled to recognize it with this honor.”
By Lee Hirsch
By Blair Campbell
If you are concerned that your child is at risk for being a victim of cyberbullying, you can take proactive steps and intervene before things get out of hand. The way you and your child respond may even help break the cycle of bullying in your community.
Prohibiting your kids from participating online is not a solution. It doesn’t work—they’ll just find a way to do it out of your presence and will not feel comfortable communicating with or confiding in you if they run into a problem. Rather, you need to strike a balance between policing their activity and offering them constructive guidance. Here are some positive ways you can talk to your kids about and work with them to prevent cyberbullying:
By Blair Campbell
Blair Campbell
When we began offering Safe and Secure Online in Canada last year, I lead a class of 120 students in which a young girl, following the cyberbullying video in the presentation, broke down crying and said, “If I report it, will it stop?” She struggled to regain her composure during the presentation.
A teacher afterward said that the school was aware of what she was dealing with and was the reason they brought Safe and Secure Online to their school. It was awful to watch this young girl – who couldn’t have been more than 13 – struggling so much when faced with a discussion about this painful experience, knowing some of the bullies were likely sitting in the room.
NIOS Is Proud to Announce Two New Courses for Educators
Both courses guide you toward developing your own Not In Our School (NIOS) Bullying Prevention Campaign. The Dominican course covers bullying and starting a NIOS Campaign. The USD Course focuses on building a NIOS Campaign and creating a safe and caring community. Select the course that works for you!
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGODivision of Continuing Education
Not In Our School: Strategies that Address Bullying and Intolerance by Creating Safe, Inclusive and Accepting Schools 2-Unit Online courseParticipants will create a plan to end bullying and intolerance in their school and community with the Not In Our School approach. The course will also focus on how to create safe, inclusive and accepting positive climates. This course was just added to the USD Bullying Prevention in Our Schools certificate program, but can be taken independently. Registration is now open.
By Leah P. Hollis, Ed.D.
What happens to bullies when they grow up and get jobs? Civility doesn’t automatically develop in a bully simply because he or she gets older. Bullying is learned behavior; therefore a bully often needs support and coaching to abandon such bullying tactics.
Thirty-seven percent of American workers will experience bullying at work sometime in their lifetime, according to a study by Namie and Namie detailed in The Bully at Work. In the past year, I conducted a study of more than 175 four-year colleges and universities to ask in-depth questions about workplace bullying in American higher education administration. Sixty-two percent of respondents stated they had been bullied or witnessed bullying in American higher education. This is 58 percent higher than the rate reported by the general workforce. Who knew that higher education is a tougher sector than most to find a civil place to work and fulfilling career?
This is the second year in a row that Lancaster's students, teachers and parents have celebrated the start of Bullying Prevention Month in their city.
Dozens turned out to watch their mayor and city council sign a Not in Our Town proclamation declaring Lancaster's schools a safe zone from intolerance and hate.
Check out the full story in The Antelope Valley Times.
Just like last year, Mayor R. Rex Harris joined with local school district administrators to officially sign the proclamation that challenges local leaders and students to stand up to bullying in their schools.
Here's the full proclamation:
WHEREAS schools make substantial contributions to the future of America and to the development of our young people as responsible and productive citizens; and