Posts Tagged ‘school violence’
Tennage boy set on fire by 5 classmates
Jeremy Jarvis, left, and his brother Denver are among five teenagers charged in the attack.
Mom of teen set on fire: ‘This violence has to stop’
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The mother of a South Florida teenager who authorities say was set on fire by five classmates made an emotional plea this morning.
“This violence has to stop,” Valerie Brewer said on NBC’s “Today” show this morning. “Kids in schools are stabbing each other. What they did to my son, we have to stop this. Our children are our future.”
Michael Brewer was attacked at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex Monday afternoon. Authorities say five teenagers called him a snitch, then poured rubbing alcohol on the 15-year-old and set him on fire.
Brewer’s troubles started when 15-year-old Matthew Bent gave him a video game and expected him to pay $40 for it, Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jim Leljedal. Brewer never paid for the game, so Bent tried to steal a $500 custom bike that belonged to Brewer’s father, Leljedal said.
Brewer called authorities over the weekend and Bent was arrested, then released Monday. Valerie Brewer said her son was terrified to go to his middle school Monday.
“I called the school resource office, and we set up an appointment for the next morning to talk to her about getting a plan to keep him safe, and it was too late,” Brewer said, her voice choking.
Michael Brewer told deputies that while he was sitting by the apartment’s swimming pool, he was splashed with rubbing alcohol and set ablaze.
click here to view full article
Crimes among teens are becoming more violent. This bizarre incident could have been prevented. It is a shame that the life of a teenager was jeopardized due to an insignificant issue among classmates that could have easily been resolved.
Michael Brewer’s mother made an emotional plea to stop violence among teens. It is crucial to provide children and teens with the necessary tools to successfully resolve problems of bullying and violence. Brewer did the right thing by reporting the incidents that lead to the attacks.
Many students fear peer retaliation and consequently refuse to report things they know.SchoolTipline is working hard to engage students in their program. It is important to create a safe environment in schools in order to prevent violent incidents such as this one.
Football Star Becomes a Hero
Kaleb Eulls, star football player and hero
This story from WTHR.com:
“More than 20 students are safe today thanks to the quick work of a star football player. Kaleb Eulls saved the day when police say a 14-year-old pulled out a loaded gun on the bus.
Grainy video from the school bus camera shows the terrifying moments. The girl yells as she swings the gun. The other students are terrified screams.
It happened Monday morning in Yazoo County, Mississippi. The bus was filled with students of all ages. Police say one of them, a 14-year-old girl who was tired of being picked on, pulled out a .38 caliber gun.
In the midst of the panic, another student, star quarterback and defensive end Kaleb Eulls, did what he does best.
“He tackled her and saved no telling how many lives as a result,” said the sheriff.
The senior may be well known in the area on the football field, but today he is better known as a hero.”
(For entire article click here.)
SchoolTipline applauds the bravery of Kaleb Eulls. The action that Eulls took saved the lives of those on the bus.
The girl who carried the weapon is now in jail and may be tried as an adult. This incident cannot be taken lightly. Bullying is a serious issue and had it not taken place in this girl’s life this event may have been avoided. It is important that there is an open culture of communication between faculty and students so that cases like this can be prevent.
CA youth attacks school
Teacher, Kennet Santana, who restrained the youth attacking Hillsdale High School.
“The 17-year-old held in the pipe bomb attack on a San Mateo high school was a “techno-wizard” who told his family he was building model rockets as he assembled his explosive devices from material he bought over the Internet, authorities said Tuesday.
Angry with teachers who had given him bad grades at Hillsdale High School, where he dropped out more than a year ago, and smarting over how other students there had treated him, the youth began planning the attack months ago, said law enforcement sources briefed on the interrogation of the boy.
On Monday, he walked onto the campus with 10 pipe bombs strapped to his vest and toting a chain saw in a violin case and a “martial arts-style” sword with a 2-foot blade, authorities said. He set off two bombs before faculty members wrestled him to the ground. No one was injured.
“It was a cold-blooded plan of execution,” San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer said at a news conference Tuesday. The teenager’s goal, she said, was to cause “mass casualties.”
“He was interested in hurting and maiming many people,” Manheimer said, to make up for “perceived wrongs.”
The chain saw, according to one source, was intended to “differentiate his attack” from other acts of school violence over the years.”
(For complete article click here.)
SchoolTipline is relieved that no one was injured in the attack on Hillsdale High School. SchoolTipline also applauds Kennet Santana, the teacher who restrained the student, for his heroic act.
It is sad to see that today’s youth are capable of these acts of violence. Faculty, students and parents need to be aware of what is going on at the school to help increase safety. It is SchoolTipline’s hope that students will report any plans like these to administrators to prevent tragedy.
Times-News Article
“Before 21st-century technology entered the education landscape, students faced the prospect of walking down to the principal or counselor’s office to report bullying.
Justin and Angela Heider, owners of Justin Heider Flooring in Twin Falls, donated $3,000 so that Canyon Ridge High School students can access SchoolTipline for the upcoming school year.
SchoolTipline, based in Provo, Utah, offers a third-party service that forwards text messages and e-mails from students on to principals and other educators.
“What we’ve found is students feel very comfortable sending out text messages or getting online and sending an e-mail knowing it’s anonymous,” said Kyle Aldous, spokesman for SchoolTipline.”
Cyber-bullying discussed at school safety meeting
Cyber-bullying discussed at school safety meeting
Philly.com
Organizers of a cyber-bullying conference in Gloucester County yesterday set the tone by showing the movie Sticks and Stones.
In it, the popular Lindsay and loner Brandon share a high school English class. Though they rarely speak to each other, they exchange text messages in class and instant messages late at night.
But when Lindsay’s boyfriend gets into her computer, he sends a humiliating picture of Brandon to the entire school. One night he even messages Brandon from Lindsay’s screen name, pretending to be her. When Brandon confesses his love, she tells him to “just disappear.”
He does. The movie ends with Brandon hanging himself from a bridge.
After the viewing, the more than 300 law enforcement officials and educators on hand talked about ways to combat the misuse of technology among students.
“The crimes that are committed by technology are not going to go away,” said Sgt. Steve LaPorta of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office’s cyber-crimes unit. He said Internet safety concerns have grown from child predators and cyber stalking to sexting and online harassment.
The setting for the film and discussion was the third annual School Safety and Security Conference, organized by the Prosecutor’s Office and hosted by six other county prosecutors, including those from Camden and Burlington.
In the 10 years since the Columbine shootings, the development of new technologies - e-mail, texting, instant messaging - “has really presented a challenge to all of us,” said Gloucester County School Superintendent Mark Stanwood.
(click here to view full article)
Ciberbullying is is a serious issue that should not be overlooked. Teens are taking advantage of technology to continue bullying after school. This type of depersonalized bullying can be more harmful than verbal abuse to a victim. When a teen is in front of a screen, it is easier to say things that are more hurtful than spoken words. In cyberspace there is no limit, you can be whoever you want to be.
SchoolTipline provides students with the necessary tools to report any type of bullying. It is important to empower students who are willing to help stop bullies at their schools.
College Campuses focus on safety
After the Virginia Tech shootings two years ago, colleges in Northeast Wisconsin stepped up their campus security measures, and they haven’t stopped.
This summer, St. Norbert College in De Pere added a lot more surveillance cameras around its campus. Now the school has about 60, including 13 in a new residence hall, 16 in the new library, and even a couple cameras in the campus center dock area.
“They seem to be a reactive tool. The main reason that we use them is that after an event we can go back and view the video and see if we can determine who was involved in a crime or things like that,” St. Norbert director of campus safety Jim Skorczewski said.
St. Norbert isn’t the only campus in our area upgrading security:
- UW-Oshkosh is expanding its campus alert system
- Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay is putting a campus-wide notification system in place next month
- This summer, UW-Green Bay upgraded its emergency response system
UWGB says if an emergency happens, students signed up for the program will immediately receive a text message letting them know what’s going on.
(click here to view full article)
SchoolTipline applauds colleges that are implementing security measures to prevent a tragedy similar to the Virginia Tech massacre from happening. Although security cameras are a good security measure, it will definitely not stop someone from harming other students. As mentioned in the article, cameras are more of a reactive tool, which can track people responsible for vandalism and other crimes after the incident has occurred.
SchoolTipline’s prevents these incidents from happening by allowing students to report incidents to school administrators. The system has already been implemented in middle schools and high schools throughout the country. This effective two-way communication model is designed to provide anonymity to students who are willing to help protect schools against violence and bullying.
Has Zero Tolerance Gone Too Far?
When “zero-tolerance” policies in Florida run amok:
A 15-year-old Vero Beach High School student is suspended for five days for throwing “Flubber” at another student.
A 14-year-old Martin County High School student is suspended for 10 days for drawing a cartoon as a joke that school officials claimed was a threat against a teacher.
The state Legislature began mandating strict zero-tolerance policies related to weapons, drugs, alcohol and violence in the wake of highly publicized, deadly violence in schools across the nation.
However, the policies sometimes didn’t differentiate among the levels of unauthorized activities, thereby linking serious criminal activity with simple mistakes and sending good students into the state’s juvenile justice system.
Because of overzealous enforcers in schools and courts, some students carried around a scarlet letter into adulthood.
Last year, 21,000 Florida students were referred to juvenile justice authorities because of school-related offenses.
To read full article click here.
Taking a stand against school violence is necessary, however, school officials need to educate students about what is and isn’t tolerated rather than punish students after they cross the line. Most importantly, students need to understand why certain behaviors are not permissible.
SchoolTipline supports all efforts to engage students in becoming the eyes and ears for school administrators. By utilizing the SchoolTipline program, students can notify school officials of real threats in real time.
Phila. schools could lose safety advocate
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Phila. schools could lose safety advocate
The Philadelphia School District stands to lose its safety watchdog, and the man who holds the job contends he’s being punished for speaking out about violence in city classrooms.
Pennsylvania officials, though, say the decision to ax the position is based only on a brutal budget.
Safety has long been a hot-button issue for the district. In 2007-08, crime there hit a record level, though preliminary numbers for last school year indicate violence was down more than 10 percent.
Union leaders and others, however, say school violence is still underreported.
Jack Stollsteimer, the current safe-schools advocate, said he worried that safety would suffer and crime would be reported even less if his office disappeared.
“There would be nobody here telling the truth about what’s going on in terms of violence in the Philadelphia schools,” he said. “They’re going to lose their only independent voice.”
The office is responsible for an annual report analyzing school violence and recommending safety fixes. Staff members also advocate in behalf of victims of violence.
Amid widespread concerns about violence in city schools, the legislature created the job nine years ago. At the time, the safe-schools advocate was the only job of its kind in the state and, for a time, was the only such job in the country.
But the office was never fully funded. Though it was designed to have a $1 million budget and a full legal staff, it has received only $387,000 for the last few years, enough to pay Stollsteimer and a handful of clerks.
(Click here to read full article)
School safety should be a top priority in every school. It is imperative that schools have someone overlooking the safety of children and teens. Often, school administrators overlook incidents and don’t prioritize the need for implementing a system that ensures the safety of a school.
Even though times are tough and school budgets might be shrinking, this does not mean the safety of children should be jeopardized.
SchoolTipline provides school safety solutions that promote a unique two-way communication system in which students, administrators and counselors can work together to ensure school safety.
Thurgood Marshall students create anti-bullying mural.
Thurgood Marshall Middle School students in front of the mural.
Middle-school students at Thurgood Marshall Middle School completed a mural in the style of artist Keith Haring to illustrate the importance of respect in the school community.
The project was in response to an anti-bullying assembly that took place in the spring at the school, which is a regional, public magnet school that is affiliated with Six to Six Magnet School.
David Weitzman, a social worker at Frenchtown Elementary School in Trumbull, had visited Thurgood Marshall students to discuss his experience working in the New York City Public School System.
To address violence in New York City schools, Weitzman conceived a project to create and paint murals in the hallways of schools that promote peace, understanding, respect and love. After the project was completed, the school system noted a significant decrease in violence on school property.
In the Bridgeport mural, the theme “Respect is learned, earned and then returned” is illustrated in three frames.
It is important to teach children at an early age to respect other students. Thurgood Marshal Middle School is an example of how parents, teachers and kids work together to stop bullying. The mural will remind students to be courteous and respectful to others.
Bullying is a serious issue that affects not only the children who are bullied, but family members who see the victim suffer from the abuse.
SchoolTipline applauds Thurgood Marshall school administrators for taking the initiative to include children in this project.
Student Playwrights Tackle Bullying
Schoolyard bullying seems a heady subject for a summer drama project but that’s what a group of youngsters are undertaking at the Patel Conservancy in Tampa.
This week, the group of 15 is applying the final touches to the play they wrote and staged. Under the director of director Jean Calandra, the production will take place on Saturday and 150 are expected to attend, she said.
The subject matter may seem a bit somber for the group made up of middle and high school students from various public and private schools in Hillsborough County. But it’s a topic they are intimately familiar with, she said, one they see all the time in their everyday lives.
The subject matter idea came from the 1930s “living newspaper” stage productions where topics of the day were examined in the theater, which not only told of issues, but offered solutions, said Calandra.
She threw out the idea when the summer camp began and watched as the students penned vignettes that are tied together by a common place and some characters in the production. The play’s title: “It’s Not What It Seems.”
“The play focuses on bullying,” Calandra said, “and it’s from the perspective of the kids. It shows the audience how this bullying problem is not just about bullies and victims.”
She said there is some light moments, like when parents and teachers just don’t hear when children talk.
The dialogue comes straight from the students, she said.
“Almost all of it, I’d say 95 percent of it, is based on real events that have happened to these kids,” she said.
Click here to read full article
Students across the nation recognize the need to stamp out bullying and are coming up with creative ways to connect with their peers. These Tampa students are changing the schoolyard culture by sending the message that bullying doesn’t have to be part of growing up.
Bullying affects more than just the bully and the victim; it affects family, friends and classmates. SchoolTipline is committed to assisting students, parents and school administrators in their efforts to combat bullying. Everyone who becomes involved in this process can make a difference.
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