Posts Tagged ‘violence’
16-year old honor student beaten to death
| Rev. Jackson: teen violence a ’state of emergency’
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| CHICAGO (WBBM) - Rev. Jesse Jackson says there’s a “state of emergency” in Chicago over the issue of students trying to travel safely across neighborhood lines to the schools they attend.
He highlighted that this morning by taking a yellow school bus from the Altgeld Gardens housing development to Fenger High School, the school 16-year old honor student Derrion Albert attended before being beaten to death recently on his way home. Rev. Jackson says students from Altgeld Gardens should not have to travel 4 1/2 miles away to Fenger High School when Carver Military Academy is a five minute walk from their homes. Carver is one of the city’s selective enrollment schools like Whitney Young, Payton, and North Side Prep. Rev. Jackson says that, if students must be bussed, they should be bussed “up” to Payton or Nequa Valley (in Naperville), “not over”. The Operation PUSH leader suggests, in the meantime, that parents from Altgeld Gardens be hired to safely ensure student safety to and from school. Click here to view full article
SchoolTipline sends its condolences to the family of Derrion Albert. It is a shame that the life of Derrion had to end like this. It is important to ensure the safety of children, not only during school hours, but after school. SchoolTipline applauds Rev. Jackson for making a difference in the lives of children in Chicago. Safety should be the number one priority and SchoolTipline is making a difference by creating a safe, two-way communication where students can anonymously report bullying, drug abuse and violence in schools.
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Congress Taking New Anti-Bullying Laws Seriously
By Lauren Barack — School Library Journal, 7/20/2009
Students, educators, and a parent whose son committed suicide after a year of bullying recentyl testified before Congress urging the federal government to intervene.
“I think it’s important to have zero tolerance against bullying,” says Cassady Tetsworth, a 12th-grader and vice chair of the National Youth Advisory Board for the nonprofit Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE), testifying before House Subcommittees on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and Healthy Families and Communities. “A federal law would make it more concrete, and not just something our school system wants us to do.”
Representative Linda Sánchez (D-Lakewood), who is passionate about this issue, agrees. She has sponsored the Safe Kids Agenda, several bills wending their way through Capitol Hill, including the State School Improvement Act—a bill that will require schools to launch antiharassment programs, and report any bullying.
“It’s important not to watch bullying happen and just be a bystander,” says Tetsworth. “If you say, ‘Hey that’s not cool,’ it sounds better coming from a peer. It’s the power of positive peer influence.”
But while that kind of group pressure works well in person, it does little when a student is faced with an anonymous bully online—whether that bully is a peer, or even an adult. An infamous case involves Lori Drew, a Missouri mother acquitted this month for her alleged role in the cyber-bullying of her daughter’s friend 13-year-old Megan Meier, who eventually committed suicide in 2006.
That incident led Sanchez’s to propose another bill named for the teen, the Megan Meier Cyber-bullying Prevention Act, which would set a prison term of two-years for anyone using electronic means to bully.
“In older days, school yard bullies harassed kids for their lunch money, but children could still come home and feel safe,” says Sánchez. “With cyberbullying it can come 24 hours a day, seven days a week and off school grounds.”
To read full article, click here.
When students and school administrators are proactive in the fight against bullying, their voices are heard. Similar to on school grounds, when peers stand up to bullies, bullying behaviors become less rampant. However, now it’s equally important to combat bullying off campus.
Lawmakers need to be made aware of the seriousness of cyber-bullying and the effects it has on students everywhere.
SchoolTipline Featured on KESQ.com
Website Allows Students to Log Out of Harassment
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By Elyse Miller, News Channel 3 Reporter
emiller@kesq.com
Bullying is something most people have experienced — the name calling, physical abuse and tormenting. Often students don’t report it, because they’re afraid of the repercussions. Now, there is a website helping students log out of the harrassment.
From the playground and classroom to the internet and cell phones, the bullying field is growing and becoming more vicious. The effects reach beyond the physical abuse. It strikes down confidence and self-worth, causing students to become depressed, skip school, drop out or worse.
“It is a fairly common occurrence for students to commit suicide because of bullying,” says Justin Bergener, creator ofSchooltipline.com.
Schooltipline.com is breaking up harrassment, settling disagreements, and threats at schools around the nation.
“There are a lot of students and parents looking for somewhere to turn to and they’re not finding it at school,” says Bergener.
“A lot of kids are afraid to come forward, my daughter was,” says parent Tracey Martin.
Through the website, students, teachers, and counselors work through the problems anonymously.
“It’s an icebreaker for students to start talking about these things,” says Bergener.
Here’s how it works: go to schooltipline.com and check if your school participates. If they’re not on the site, invite them.
Once the school is on, students login and select the nature of the report. Issues range from weapons, drugs and fights to cheating. Next, students can type in an anonymous message which goes directly to the school leaders.
“Based on wether it’s bullying or drugs, it can be routed to specific people in the school,” says Bergener.
As the site grows in popularity, creators are finding easier ways to end harrassment fast. Now, students can send anonymous text messages to contact help immediately.
“It’s an early warning when something is happening that is in violation of school policy,” says Bergener.
With a quick tip and fast action school leaders can stop fights, abuse, danger and potentially saves lives.
“I truly believe prevention is the key,” says Bergener.
Violence in schools down, but bullying and other incidents on the rise
“Even though spasms of intense violence erupt on campuses occasionally and linger in the social consciousness, violence at schools across the country has been decreasing for a number of years.
That doesn’t necessarily mean schools are safe havens. Consider:
– Eighty-six percent of public schools in 2005-06 reported that one or more violent incidents, thefts of items valued at $10 or greater or other crimes had occurred — a rate of 46 crimes per 1,000 enrolled students.
– Almost a third of students ages 12 to 18 reported being bullied inside school.
– Nearly a quarter of teenagers reported the presence of gangs at their schools.”
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