This week's safe schools snippets

PEN presents “The Bully, the Bullied & the Bystander”
The Parent Engagement Network will be hosting a free public forum with guest/author Barbara Coloroso The Bully, The Bullied, and the Bystander from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Monarch High School, 329 Campus Dr., Louisville. For more information contact Betsy Fox at 720-563-7007 or Kathy Valentine at 303-810-6456, or visit www.parentengagementnetwork.org for more information.

Milwaukee public middle school a haven for gay youth

It’s literally dangerous to be young and coming out of the closet. In February 2008 15-year-old Larry King, of Oxnard, Calif., was killed by his classmate, Brandon McInerney, because King was exploring his sexuality.

More and more gay teenagers are committing suicide because they were bullied for it. Watch this ABC News report.

Media giants raise awareness of bullying

Media companies such as CNN, Cartoon Network, Facebook, and Time Inc. have started an online anti-bullying campaign designed to raise awareness.

The companies launched the “Stop Bullying, Speak Up” Facebook page to give students and parents a place to voice their support for victims of bullying. The webpage also includes tips to resist bullying, a map of everyone who has “spoken up” against bullying, and a place to register a “bullying prevention group” in schools. CNN’s Anderson Cooper is also hosting a town-hall style meeting with anti-bullying experts on his show, Anderson Cooper 360°, Oct. 9. Learn more at U.S. News & World Report.

Carnegie Mellon’s Web Wise Kids launches free social networking app

Carnegie Mellon’s Information Networking Institute (INI) and Web Wise Kids, a national non-profit organization and recognized leader in Internet safety education, announces the launch of an educational mobile application (app) that engages kids who are beginning to use social networks in a game about online safety when accessing social networking websites via their mobile devices.

The free mobile app, “BeSeen” is now available in the Apple iTunes store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beseen/id463888757?mt=8

Learn more at Market Watch.

CNN study: Schoolyard bullies not just preying on the weak

A new study commissioned by CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” found that the stereotype of the schoolyard bully preying on the weak doesn’t reflect reality in schools.

Instead, the research shows that many students are involved in “social combat” — a constant verbal, physical and cyber fight to the top of the school social hierarchy. Read more at CNN.

Bully-proofing your kids

Miranda Jones can remember many afternoons in the counselor’s office in her small-town Colorado middle school, crying about other kids relentlessly teasing about her weight.

She’d change clothes in the bathroom stall after gym so the other girls wouldn’t laugh at her size. By high school, she was spending countless hours in the library reading to avoid social situations and the possibility of being teased. She rarely complained to her teachers, assuming they would just make it worse if they confronted her bullies. Learn more at CNN.

 

About our First Person series:

First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.