Massachusetts legislators hear appeals for anti-bullying law

By MOLLY CONNORS
Cape Cod Times
BOSTON — A Cape Cod mother made a tearful plea to state legislators yesterday to pass one of a dozen bills addressing school bullying, saying the state must step in to assure schools do their job in protecting students from mental and physical anguish.
“I felt my son needed to be protected. [...]

North Carolina law spurs school system to beef-up bullying policy

By Mike Wilder
Times-News
BURLINGTON, N.C. — A new state law means the Alamance-Burlington School System will change its policy against harassment and bullying.
The change means the policy will prohibit bullying based on sexual orientation, along with other characteristics, such as race, religion, sex and physical appearance.

Richmond Co., Georgia officials tout anti-bully policy

By Preston Sparks
Augusta Chronicle
AUGUSTA, Georgia — Legislation enacted a decade ago banning bullying in schools has gone a long way to protect students, Richmond County school officials say.
“We have found that the attention to the problem of bullying that occurred with the passage of the legislation has helped to reduce incidences of bullying and to [...]

Cassia Co., Idaho schools crack down on cyber-bullying

Times News
Twin Fallas, Idaho — CHEERS: To the Cassia County School District for its enlightened new policy on sexual harassment and cyber-bullying.
The new rules proscribe bullying someone over sexual orientation and crack down on “sexting,” the transmission of sexually explicit messages or photos electronically – primarily between cell phones.
Students and staff at Cassia County schools [...]

Illinois: Forum to address anti-gay bullying

By Jodi Heckel
News-Gazette
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – A Safe Schools forum next week will look at bullying of gay students in schools and how teachers and administrators can respond.
State Superintendent Christopher Koch will be part of the forum.
It will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Parkland College Theater, 2400 W. Bradley Ave., C.

Toronto board pushes for ‘boy-friendly’ school

By Josh Wingrove and Anthony Reinhart
Toronto Globe and Mail
Boys left behind by Toronto’s public schools are about to feel a firm force pulling them forward: the strong hand of Chris Spence, the Toronto District School Board’s new education director, who is calling for an all-male school and more “boy-friendly” classrooms to address male underachievement.
It’s a [...]

Wyoming high school adds bully cameras

NEWS 8.com
Associated Press
CODY, Wyo. (AP) – Fears of bullying have led to the installation of 73 new high-definition cameras at a high school in northwestern Wyoming, with officials hoping to deter as much violence as they capture on recordings.

Wisc.: Widow of slain principal helps with anti-bullying campaign

WXOW TV News
The widow of a high school principal shot and killed by a student has helped launch a new anti-bullying campaign in Wisconsin.
John Klang was the principal at Weston Schools three years ago when he was killed during a struggle with 15-year-old Eric Hainstock.
Sue Klang believes that if the new program had been in [...]

Tampa: Parents now filing bullying reports online

By SHERRI ACKERMAN
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA – The first complaint came at the end of the first day of school.
A boy at Randall Middle School in Lithia said he was struck on the head by another student as they rode the bus home. His mother reported the incident to Hillsborough County schools officials using the district’s [...]

Carter v bullies: N.J. superintendent tough on bullying

by Timothy J. Carroll
Hudson Reporter
At Tuesday’s Hoboken Board of Education meeting, a few parents accused district schools of mishandling bullying situations. Interim Superintendent Peter Carter said that unresponsive principals would be “in trouble,” and promised that remedies would be forthcoming.
But on Wednesday, Carter said that two of the three situations in question predated his tenure, [...]

Wyoming’s Goshen County adds Olweus program

BY: Tim McFarland
The Torrington Telegram
Goshen County School District No.1 started the Olweus program this year to help inform students, parents and teachers how to deal with bullying situations.
“Bullying is a huge problem in the state,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride said during a Wyoming Signatures broadcast Thursday evening. “A quarter of all boys, [...]

More on last night’s hazing autopsy at Millburn school board meeting

By Tina Kelley
The Local/New York Times
Last night’s Millburn school board meeting was full to the brim with news, more than we could get in to the live-blog format last night, or into the newspaper this morning. (Oh the brain gymnastics required in listening, typing, writing and answering instant messages all at once! Live blogging is [...]

Mean Girls: Hazing Rampant at NJ’s Top High School

By JENNIFER MILLMAN
Excerpt from NBC New York
No more pushing, no more hooks, no more mean girls’ dirty looks.
The president of the Millburn Board of Education promised more than four dozen parents last night that district administrators would have to undertake sensitivity training and devise a plan within the next 60 days to combat hazing at [...]

Iowa district now aims anti-bullying programs at workplace

By Meagan Sexton
Excerpt from Sioux City Journal
SIOUX CITY — The Sioux City Community School District wants to practice what it teaches by developing an anti-bullying program for adults.
The district already has a program in place for students, but this week, about 20 district employees, including teachers, janitors, administrators and counselors, gathered at the Northwest Area [...]

Utah may soon get bullying policy, tough on athletes

By Amy K. Stewart
Deseret News
Bullies beware: The state may soon have a new policy targeting bullying and hazing — and it will put athletes under special scrutiny.
The State Board of Education unanimously approved a second reading of its proposed policy Friday. The final vote will come next month.
The driving force for the action is the [...]

Alameda SERVE wants recall of school trustees

By Lucinda Ryan
Alameda County Mercury News
Alameda, Calif. — Members of a group called SERVE Alameda, which is working to recall three school trustees, said at a town-hall meeting Saturday theirs is not a “hate group.”
SERVE (Seeking Equity and Respect for all Viewpoints in Education) said Neil Tam, Tracy Jensen and Ron Mooney conducted their duties [...]

Bully suicide prompts ‘no bullying’ policies at Georgia schools

By Melissa Tune
WRDW.COM News 12
HEPHZIBAH, Ga. — It’s the start of school year and parents are dealing with all kinds of issues that affect their kids, including one that’s been around for years: bullying. One Hephzibah parent says it has already happened to her daughter, and the school system says they’re not going to tolerate [...]

Kansas school: Anti-bullying training for staff

By Carol Bronson
The Pratt Tribune
The days are past when bullying is tolerated with an attitude, “ignore it and it will go away.” Schools take bullying seriously, in fact are required by the state to develop policies to prevent students from being taken advantage of or harassed by their peers. Besides being mandated, “it’s the right [...]

New law prompts anti-bullying training for Vegas teachers

The Associated Press
San Jose Mercury News
LAS VEGAS — A group says it’ll host the first in a series of anti-bullying training sessions for about 70 teachers and counselors at Clark County School District offices.
Students Against Violence Everywhere says the seminar today (Thursday) comes in advance of Monday’s start of classes for campuses on nine-month schedules. [...]

Florida school podcasts anti-bullying policy in wake of rape

St. Petersburg Times
Joseph Brown, the newly appointed principal of a Florida school where a student was raped in a locker room, cited other measures the school will take against bullying in a podcast posted on his Web page at Walker Middle School. Those strategies include drop boxes around the school and a link on the [...]

Rape prompts Florida middle school to alter locker room policy

By Colleen Jenkins
St. Petersburg Times
TAMPA — Walker Middle School is altering its guidelines for locker room supervision in the wake of rape allegations.
Students no longer will be allowed inside locker rooms without a coach or administrator present, school district spokesman Stephen Hegarty said Friday. The rooms will be locked at all other times.

Oregon school district sets town hall on bullying

By Jennifer Moody
Albany Democrat-Herald
LEBANON — Superintendent Rob Hess of the Lebanon Community School District is planning a community meeting next month to discuss bullying and harassment.

Survey: School kids say bullying a “big problem”

By Bill Stanczykiewicz
Carroll County Comet
The new school year raises an old problem, but an emerging statewide initiative hopes to deliver a timeless solution.
While bullying might seem like old news to adults, the situation is far more urgent to kids. Seventy percent of students between the ages of 12 and 15 describe bullying as a “big [...]

Calif. school district opts in to Olweus anti-bullying training

BY VICTOR GARCIA
VISALIA Times-Delta
Bullying not only affects students psychologically and emotionally but ultimately affects test performance and attendance, according to data presented by a Tulare County education expert Monday.
Tulare County Office of Education’s Tom Byars presented the data to a diverse group at Mission Oak High School. Tulare Joint Union High School District administrators, teachers, [...]

Maryland district to spend $60,000 on bullying prevention

By DAN DEARTH
The Herald-Mail
HAGERSTOWN — Washington County Public Schools will spend a little more than $60,000 on materials to teach faculty how to recognize and deal with bullying.