The Bakers’ case names the superintendent and principal as co-defendants.  The suit contends their son was harassed for more than a year (Sept. 2009 to Dec. 2010) and was forced to leave the school during his fourth grade year because of the bullying.

The suit alleges that the principal did not respond to their messages about the situation.  She finally met with them and assured she would conduct a formal investigation, but later told them she did not believe their child had been bulled, the parents claim.  The Bakers said they never received a written copy of any investigation about the bullying.

The six counts named in the complaint are a violation of the student’s 14^th amendment rights (public school liability determination is based on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972), intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision and negligent training.  The suit asks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and that the Hamilton Board of Education amend its policies and procedures to appropriately respond to bullying.

In a 1999 Supreme Court case, Davis v. Monroe County Board if Education, it was determined that private damages could be brought against a school board receiving federal funds in instances of student-on-student harassment if the school board acts with “deliberate indifference” to known acts of harassment in its programs and activities.

This case only addresses harassment that is so “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit.”

Most of the bullying suits currently being filed cite the deliberate indifference standard and the Davis case’ five-part harassment test which states (1) student must be member of statutorily protected class (due to gender, race, disability) (2) peer harassment is based on the protective class (3) harassment is severe, pervasive and objectively offensive  (4) a school official with authority to address harassment has actual knowledge of it (5) school is deliberately indifferent to the harassment.

In March 2012, two other Ohio school systems were sued by parents of children who had allegedly been bullied.

On March 29, the parents of 12-year-old and 8-year-old boys who attended elementary school in the Perkins Township School District, said their sons were physically and verbally abused by classmates, but their complaints to school officials went unheeded. Dr. Patrick and Linda Waters filed suit stating nothing had been done about the bullying and they had to send both boys to private school.

In mid-March 2012, a Madison Township father announced he was suing that school district because his son had been maliciously assaulted on school property and required hospital treatment.  The parent, David Brown, said he is also suing the parents of the student who injured his son.  Brown said school employees “failed to suspend, expel or segregate” the offending student and the district should have known that the student was a “delinquent minor child with a known propensity for violent and assaultive behavior toward other students.”

In October 2011, the parents of a 14-year-old Jewish girl sued the Green school of Northeast Ohio claiming their daughter had been abused by classmates for more than four years with anti-Semitic taunts and physical abuse.  Their lawsuit named a bus driver, a guidance counselor, two principals and two superintendents who the parents said had nothing to stop the bullying or punish the aggressors.

In addition to the physical abuse and name-calling, the suit says the bullies created a Facebook page devoted to ridiculing the young girl and one principal allegedly told the girl she “enjoyed the attention.”

The lawsuit asked for a declaration that the girl’s constitutional rights were violated and sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

If your child has been the victim of personal injury at school, you may want to seek legal help.  Although it may be unpleasant, sometimes it is necessary to bring action against another student or students or school officials if they are unresponsive to your complaints.

Across the nation, several young people have committed suicide because they were bullied either at school or online or both.  Sometimes you can’t tell yourself it’s “just kids,” because the situation may be more serious than it appears.  Our experienced Ohio attorneys at Slater & Zurz LLP would be happy to help you with this or any other legal question.  Call us at 1-888-534-4850 or fill out a FREE CASE REVIEW on our website at slaterzurz.com

Over the getting-to-know you conversation that occurs when you meet someone for the first time, Lisa and I had shared a laugh as well our first names, and then I asked her the usual ‘What do you do?’ She explained that she wasn’t able to work because she had severe depression, and she went on to tell me that she had had a terrible time being bullied at school, and had sued the Department of Education.

I remembered this: I’d read about this in the newspaper when it happened, and the succesful lawsuit triggered a wholesale review of the Department’s Student Wellbeing policies which included a requirement that all schools develop new policies under strict guidelines. There was a very sharp deadline, and there was no allowance for Term 4 being the busiest time of the year. So a colleague and I worked on our new Student Engagement Policy over the remaining weeks of the term so that it would be ready for implementation in the new school year, and we had a Professional Development Day at my school to introduce it to staff.

For my school there were no major changes. We already had a research-based anti-bullying program and we had unambiguous school rules with clear-cut consequences for infractions. Every teacher responds immediately to reports of bullying in exactly the same way, and in a series of lessons that is taught every year and then reinforced throughout the year, children learn what bullying is; when, how and who to ask for help; and most importantly that every student bystander has a responsibility to report bullying. We had had this program in place for years, and although there are incidents from time to time, my school’s zero tolerance for bullying makes it a safe place for our students to learn.

But Lisa Eskinazi was not so fortunate. In this courageous memoir, she explains:

I didn’t write this book to complain or to receive sympathy. I wrote it in an attempt to educate the public on the issues of homelessness, mental illness and victimization’.

While the psychiatrist who testified in her court case and Lisa herself acknowledge that she lacked certain self-help skills (such as bully-blocking techniques), the reason why her suit was successful was because the school knew about the bullying and had discipline and welfare policies – but it didn’t implement them. Not even when after months of hateful verbal attacks, she was knocked unconscious to the ground. Lisa asked for help at home and school and didn’t get it. The school, and the individual teachers who worked there, failed in their duty of care. In the end this student – who had been a high achiever in primary school – left school early. She spiralled into severe mental illness, homelessness, and a brief period of prostitution.

It’s not a long book, only 120-odd pages. I think it should be essential reading for every teacher, and every parent. Because no one should have to endure relentless verbal and physical abuse, not in any circumstances. All of us need to work together to develop a culture of zero-tolerance for bullying, in any context, and this little book is a brave attempt to speak up for the victims of it.

Author: Lisa Eskinazi
Title: Out of the Well
Publisher: Melbourne Books, 2008
ISBN: 9781877096860
Source: Kingston Library

Availability:
Fishpond: Out of the Well: My Battle with School Bullying and Severe Depression

This review is cross-posted at ANZ LitLovers.

To get help contact:

Beyond Blue
Kids Helpline
LifeLine

With marriage equality battles in front of the voters in four states, the faithful are out in flocks to defend traditional matrimony.  I don’t know exactly what traditional means in this context. It certainly doesn’t mean biblical, or it would include captive virgins and sex slaves and fathering children for your deceased brothers. It certainly doesn’t mean Mitt Romney’s version of traditional, since his great grandfather had five wives and his great-great grandfather had twelve.

Continue reading this article at Away Point.

Here is a link to a story that should anger every parent whose child has ever been a bullying victim:

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/mississippi/family-special-needs-student-attacked
This boy is a special needs student. He is paralyzed on one side of his body and has cerebral palsy.  Granted the kid threw a soda can at his attacker after the senior called him a name but we do not know what the victim’s mental age is and such–or even if he had good aim with the can.  If the can was empty, there was no reason to react in such a fashion.  The bottom line is, as a senior, this young man should have been mature enough to set the example for the other students and  to not go off as he did on a person with a disability.  PERIOD. Sorry but while I do think the Stokes boy needs to learn to ignore such crud that is said to him and probably have some anger management therapy, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for the senior using the force he did to levy such an injurious and brutal attack.

I can assure you that if I were the principal of that school, that senior would at least be in ISS for a while…

I am not a big fan of Fox, CNN or any of the major news networks but when I see this stuff in more than 1 report, and the info matches up on the networks, I am most likely going to express my opinion on the matter.

Without going into the details nor attempting to villainize the other child as both girls are just 7 years old, suffice to say that this is not the first incident involving this one student.  Sadly our child as well as other classmates have been on the receiving end of either a hit or a threat of being hit in the past.  In fact the week before the incident, the classmate threatened to ruin the dresses of four girls (including our daughter’s) on picture day.  When my daughter reported this to the teacher, the girl denied it.  However, and I applaud the teacher for her follow through, she asked the other three girls who had been targeted what had happened.  They all confirmed that the  classmate did indeed make the threat to ruin their dresses.  The teacher did take what we believed at the time was the appropriate action to address the issue.  We had hoped that it would end there.

Sadly it didn’t.

The Importance of Documenting

One of the things I learned in preparing for my interviews with leading experts on the subject of bullying is that you must meticulously document every incident as well as report it so as to create an audit trail.

Over the past couple of years we have done this.  We have also saved the copies of the responses we received from the other child’s mother to our e-mails expressing concerns of what was happening at school.  One reply that stands out in particular was the mother’s acknowledgement that her daughter has a problem with her temper and is somewhat spoiled.  It should also be noted that we sent e-mails to the school, as well as called them on more than one occasion regarding the situation.

Based on this and the severity of the injury resulting from the blow, we decided to file a complaint with police.  Much to their credit the officers with whom we talked took the matter seriously and an officer specializing in school situations has since intervened.

Given that our daughter has never been in trouble or has been disciplined at school – she has consistently received glowing comments about her academic ability and positive attitude, we were surprised to receive the following note from her teacher a mere two-days after her return to classes:

“(The classmate who hit our daughter) has been doing her best to avoid Savannah at all times, but Savannah is not reciprocating.  She often stands by the classmate in line or chases her in the gym.

It would be best if Savannah also put an effort into avoiding the classmate.”

As previously indicated, we were of course surprised to receive the note as there had been no meaningful communication from the school since the incident occurred.

I immediately called the teacher for further clarification, and asked her if Savannah was being mean to the other girl or had been taunting her or had otherwise done something wrong.  The teacher assured us that Savannah did not do anything wrong and that she is a sweet girl who does not have a mean bone in her.

The teacher went on to say that they just want to make certain that another situation is avoided in the future.

When I got off of the phone with the teacher both Jennifer and I talked to Savannah and we discovered that in addition to the note, she was called from class so that the principal could talk with her.  The principle, without consulting us on what they planned to do, asked Savannah to stay away from the other girl.  While we do not believe that it was the intent of the principal to make Savannah feel that she had done something wrong, she nonetheless felt that she had.

What is particularly troubling about the school’s plan of action is that is has confused Savannah in that by following the principal’s direction she may be put into the position of having to disobey other rules.  For example, you are not allowed to move ahead or back when you are standing in line in the hallway.  What happens if the other student ends up beside Savannah.  If Savannah moves while in line to get away from the other student she can get into trouble with the teacher.  However, if she stays put she is going against what she was told by the principal.  Remember, we are dealing with a 7 year old not an adult.

After a great deal of discussion and what can be considered a reasonable night’s sleep for parents with 4 children under the age of 7, I sent in the following note to both the teacher and the principal:

Dear Teacher:

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me by telephone yesterday.

As we had discussed, and despite what has happened to her, Savannah is a gentle, sweet and forgiving child.  Therefore it goes against her nature to purposely ignore another person.

While Jennifer and I believe that we understand the intent of your note, we take issue with the manner in which this course of action was introduced.  Specifically, the principal’s decision to pull her from class to tell her to stay away from the other student!  This made Savannah feel that she had done something wrong – which she did not.  After all she is the one who, without warning and provocation, was injured.

Over the next few days we will research the effectiveness of putting a demand such as the one being placed on Savannah in terms of preventing future injury as well as the impact on academic experience.

In the interim, we have instructed Savannah as follows:

1. Given what has happened in the past, she should be more aware or mindful of the other student and,
2. That she is not being mean by not engaging or responding to the other student
   

The above being said, Savannah will not be reduced to walking on egg shells or be forced to mute what has been an otherwise enjoyable experience at school.

For example, if the other student approaches Savannah while she is talking with her classmates, Savannah will not flee from the scene.  Conversely, Savannah will not avoid interacting with other classmates just because the other student may have been in line before her.   In situations such as these we have told Savannah that she should, in a polite but firm voice, remind the other student that they should not be talking and ask her to leave.  If the other student does not respond, we have told Savannah to immediately see the supervising teacher or adult.

We look forward to following up with you once we have completed our research.

Sincerely,

Jon and Jennifer

In the end our concern is that action was taken without our being consulted and, it appears that Savannah is being made to feel responsible for what had happened.  Despite the promise of a meeting we have yet to receive a call from the school’s principal to discuss the situation.  Nor have the other child’s parents given us the courtesy of an apology for what had happened.  I can assure you that had the roles been reversed Jennifer and I would have called the injured child’s parents to see how she was and apologize.  Furthermore, we would have had Savannah write a get well note to the classmate.

Instead, the only contact we received from the parents was in the form of a police officer visiting us at home and telling us that they had received a call complaining that we had been harassing them by way of our postings about the incident on our personal Facebook pages.  We of course did not mention names and after a few brief and concise words with the officer I initiated a meeting with his superior at the station.  The matter was immediately dropped.

So here is the question . . . are our schools properly equipped to deal with bullying?  Do the schools to a certain extent make the victim responsible for bearing the bully’s burden in that they have to modify their behavior, even in those circumstances where they have done nothing wrong?

30

Elder Bullying:  We love our grandparents and our elderly friends and neighbors. But, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse about 11 percent of elderly persons in the US surveyed experienced some type of abuse or potential neglect during the prior year.  Many are afraid or unable to speak out about their abuses.                                     For more information visit: www.aoa.gov/AoA_programs/Elder_Rights/NCEA

Cyber Bullying:  We love using all our devices.  But, there are people of all ages who use technology to send mean, embarrassing, hurtful messages, photos, and videos by email, texts and social networks.                                                                                          To learn more visit: www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/index.html

Workplace Bullying:  We love earning an income.  But does your boss exclude you, swear at you, unfairly blame you, use verbal and non-verbal conduct that is sexual in nature, ignore your contributions, or belittle you in front of peers?  Wikipedia says that  “Bullying in the workplace is, in the majority of cases, reported as having been perpetrated by management and takes a wide variety of forms.”                                                                Find help and information here: www.workplacebullying.org

School Bullying:  We love our kids and hate to see them hurt.  But from preschool though high school and more, they will face classroom bullies, mean girls, rejection, physical intimidation, hurtful rumors, etc.  In the US at least 160,000 kids miss school each day due to bullying.  Do you know the signs?   Find tons of resources:                                                                                                                      www.education.com/topic/school-bullying-teasing                         :  http://www.pacer.org/bullying/ 

Sexual Bullying/Homophobic:  We love being accepted for who we are and kids of all ages are particularly vulnerable.  But, according to Dr. Dorothy Espelage, (on Oprah’s website), “ half of all bullying in elementary and middle schools involves the use of gay slurs.”  Now that we live in the age of technology, this form of abuse is even more pervasive via cyber bullying.                                                                                                                          Recognize the signs and find helpful tips for ways to deal with sexual bullies: www.oprah.com/health.How-to-Deal-with-Kids-Who-Bully-Other-Kids

Sexual Bullying/Physical:  We all love spending time with someone we care about and trust.  But, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “1 in 4 adolescents experiences verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse from a dating partner EACH YEAR.”                                                                                                                              Check out the facts and warning signs for Dating Violence: www.violencepreventionworkd.org/public/recognizing_dating_violence.page

 Racist Bullying:  We all love being accepted and we love diversity.  But, kids from ethnic minorities are more likely to experience bullying than white kids.  Racism hurts not only the student but it also impacts a whole community.  Schools can take steps to prevent bullying, promote diversity, and work with parents to develop values that respect and celebrate differences.                                                                                                          Find great ideas and ways for schools to deal with forms of racial discrimination/bullying:  http://www.kidscape.org.uk/professionals/rascistbullying.shtml

A little poem for all of us to share:

If All the Trees Were Oaks

What if all the trees were oaks                                                                                                 How plain the world would seem,                                                                                            No maple syrup, banana splits                                                                                           And how would orange juice be?

Wouldn’t it be a boring place                                                                                                   If all the people were the same;                                                                                             Just one color just one language,                                                                                       Just one family name!

-But-

If the forest were the world                                                                                                  And all the people were the trees;                                                                                     Palm and pine, bamboo and willow,                                                                                    Live and grow in harmony.    

Aren’t you glad, my good friend                                                                                   Different though we be,                                                                                                        We are here to help each other.                                                                                               I learn from you, and you from me.

Author Unknown

First, we review the case of the Colegio de San Agustin student Jaime Garcia. His name became famous because some CSA students bullied him, then he retaliated by stabbing one of the bullies with a ballpoint pen. Then the father of the stabbed bully, Allan Bantiles, allegedly slapped Jaime and even allegedly pointed a gun at him:

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/43937/csa-teen-on-bullys-gun-toting-dad-i-really-thought-hed-shoot-my-brains-out

We remember the Math teacher who forced her students to eat paper and also threw a chair toward someone who had the sense to defy her order:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=851790&publicationSubCategoryId=49

There are even instances of students getting the upper hand against teachers. Here is one such case of students robbing their teacher:

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/provincial/38136-guro-ninakawan-tinangkang-patayin-ng-3-estudyante

We also recall the alleged child molestation by a PE teacher:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/136696/24oras/pe-teacher-inireklamo-ng-pangmomolestya-ng-16-na-estudyante-sa-elementarya

Even a school paper of a renowned university has suddenly grown fangs on this attack against other two prestigious universities:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/277346/news/nation/ust-student-paper-attacks-ateneo-la-salle-on-rh-stands

There are also two school bomb scares just this last week:

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/metro-manila/10/10/12/lyceum-suspends-classes-after-bomb-scare

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=63&articleid=858735

And just hours ago, a stabbing took place at Adamson University.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/10/13/12/adamson-university-student-stabbed-inside-campus

Men, women, children, elderly, rich, poor, even school buildings – no one is safe.

At least credit me for having a curious memory for oddities. George Santayana said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I know you may have heard this for a hundred times already in your lifetime. (But you don’t remember hearing it, so you’ll just repeat hearing it, thus proving the truth of Santayana’s proposition. A more orderly world would have no need for a quote like this.)

Let me emphasize, however, that I am in no way generalizing about the rampant violence that has happened in our school campuses nowadays. After all, there are tens of thousands of schools all over the country. There is no way we can cover all the violence that’s happening in the schools. The increased coverage of violent acts taking place inside campus can be attributed to just that – increased coverage. But it’s tempting to wonder: Couldn’t it be that it has always been this way inside the majority of educational institutions in the Philippines, and we’re starting to get vigilant only recently, when deaths and bizarre activities began emerging in rapid-fire pace?

However, I am quite generous in examining the succession of violent in-campus activities. Perhaps they just clustered together by chance, or as I mentioned, perhaps it’s just increased media coverage of the usual stuff.

Copycats Galore

Or perhaps this explanation can also apply. Robert Cialdini, a psychology professor from the Arizona State University, describes a probable explanation for the one-after-another occurrence of detestable acts inside our schools. In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, he explains the occurrence of copycat events, or events that follow the publicizing of a similar event. He cites David Phillips’ research on copycat suicides:

(1) Copycat events take place only on places where the events are publicized: “He found that within two months after every front-page suicide story, an average of fifty-eight more people than usual killed themselves. In a sense, each suicide story killed fifty-eight people who otherwise would have gone on living.”

(2) Copycat events are done in a similar manner as the publicized events: “Thus when the newspaper detailed the suicide of a young person, it was young drivers who then piled their cars into trees, poles, and embankments with fatal results; but when the news story concerned an older person’s suicide, older drivers died in such crashes”

According to Cialdini, these two insights add up: “Upon learning of another’s suicide, an uncomfortably large number of people decide that suicide is an appropriate action for themselves as well.”

That insight may apply to acts of school violence. Although we can’t ascertain how many such acts took place during the whole of September and the first two weeks of October, imitation of prior publicized acts of school violence can be a trigger, if we are to follow Cialdini’s logic.

It’s like this: more trouble begets more coverage, and more coverage may beget more trouble. It’s a vicious circle that may engulf the educational establishment if left unchecked. At least the increased exposure should make us aware of what’s really happening in our schools, given that inside schools, pupils are away from their families and are practically left to fend off for themselves.

A Note to Teachers

Teachers, meanwhile should ask themselves these questions:

Isn’t it violence – to the mind, if not to the body – if they let their students out to the world without sufficient life skills? Have our schools taught us literacy, numeracy, critical thinking,and rapid adaptation to speedily changing circumstances? Have our schools strengthened our willpower to stand alone in the midst of tempting opportunities to follow the crowd’s blatant wrongs and innocent imbecilities, a steel heart that never worships power for its own sake, and a zest for lifelong learning and not learning that ends when school ends?

Isn’t it violence to make schools function like businesses while posing perils to their educational functions?

Isn’t it violence to scream at students when reasoned discussion is a better tack? Isn’t it violence to force-feed students with facts that they’re likely to forget after a long time, and to stress students over them?

Isn’t it violence to judge students, with no regard to the future, when their potentials haven’t fully blossomed yet? This year’s Nobel laureate for Medicine and Physiology, Sir John Gurdon (who shared the prize with Shinya Yamanaka for seminal work on stem cells) recalled what his Biology teacher told him before: “I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous; if he can’t learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him.”

And I’d consider it violence too when students have to say “Good morning” every day, like busted records, when the mornings out there are mostly no good.

Shakespeare once said, “‘Tis the mind that makes the body rich”. It’s just reasonable to assume that turbulence in mind and viciousness of the body go hand-in-hand. If you corrupt the mind, you corrupt the body, and pandemonium’s going to result if you do that to participants in a crowded classroom.

“Is what true?”

“Today is your fiftieth birthday?”

“Oh no, please not the ‘turning 50 crap.’  But for your information, I am not over the hill, thank you.  I have reached the hill!”

“What’s it like to have finally reached that infamous hill?”

“It feels somewhat fulfilling, maybe a little scary because people will expect me to put the years of wisdom I have accumulated towards something significant.”

“In that case have you done it yet?”

“Have I done what?”

“Reached the goal you wanted to achieve before you turned fifty?”

“It depends on what goal.  If you mean making sure my kids are successful, then the answer is yes.  If you mean do I have my dream job, then the answer is no.”

“So you’re saying that you’ve never quite figured it out.”

“Something like that, but I have accumulated years of wisdom!”

“So why don’t you apply that wisdom to creating your dream job?”

“I have a job.”

“Is it your dream job?”

“No, it’s a job I hate.  My boss is a bully.  I am harassed all day.”

“Why don’t you quit?”

“Can’t.  Too many responsibilities.  Sometimes I feel like a kid on the school playground.”

“Were you bullied in school?”

“Just by one kid and someone like him grew up to become my boss!”

“How did you handle the bullying in school?”

“Back then, you learned to run fast or tough it out, just to get through the day.  That’s what I’m doing now in this job, I suppose. ’ Toughing’ it out just to get through the day.”

“Bummer.”

“Who says that anymore?”

“I know, sorry, it slipped out.  Anyway, it’s never too late to figure it out.”

“I can’t make any changes in my life.  I have too many responsibilities.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Do you think that you’ll ever have that dream job?”

“I’m fifty already.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means that last year I was forty-nine and next year, hopefully, I’ll be fifty-one.”

“Sort of stuck in the middle?”

“Something like that.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I don’t think that there is a problem.  I’m basically happy.”

“Being basically happy is a wonderful goal, yeah, really!  Look, why don’t you just do it?”

“You’re absolutely right.  I should quit my job or at least end this harassment at work and pursue my dream job.  But I don’t know what I can do about the bullying at work.”

“There is a law against bullying in the workplace.”

“Really, didn’t know that.  I’ll look into it and make a change today!”

(c) 2012 Linda Stone Cohen All Rights Reserved

Remember that no amount of money can purchase grace, wisdom and humility.       Until tomorrow…

We have watched several international and local movies where there is a bully (the “kontra-bida”) and the victim (the “bida).  This doesn’t just happen in the movies, it happens in reality all over the world.  But, unlike in the movies, sometimes the victim remains a victim.  In the past 2 weeks, we have heard in local television, news about bullying in schools resulting to display of violence.  The reported bullying occurred in a private school and in a public school.  Hence, bullying can happen in any school campus, be it private or public, coed or exclusive, and in elementary, high school and college.

Bullying has been rampant in the United States and pediatricians have been putting efforts in addressing this problem because of its long term consequences in children.   The problem of bullying among children and teens in schools is now being recognized in the Philippines because of the rising reported cases.  As parents, how do you recognize if your child is being bullied or if your child is a bully?  How should you react to both situations? Here is an article from HealthyChildren.org, a  parenting website of the American Association of Pediatrics on bullying (AAP).

Bullying: It’s Not OK

Bullying is when one child picks on another child again and again. Usually children who are being bullied are either weaker or smaller, are shy, and generally feel helpless.

Facts About Bullying 

• Both girls and boys can be bullies.
• Bullies target children who cry, get mad, or easily give in to them.
• There are 3 types of bullying.
  • Physical—hitting, kicking, pushing, choking, punching
  • Verbal—threatening, taunting, teasing, hate speech
  • Social—excluding victims from activities or starting rumors about them

Bullying Happens:

• At school—in the halls, at lunch, or in the bathroom, when teachers are not there to see what is going on.
• When adults are not watching—going to and from school, on the playground, or in the neighborhood.
• Through e-mail or instant messaging—rumors are spread or nasty notes are sent.

Bullying is Different from Fighting or Teasing:

• A bully has power over another child.
• Bullies try to control other children by scaring them.
• Being picked on over and over can make your child a victim.
• Bullying usually happens when other children are watching.

Talk With Your Child About Bullying

Even if you don’t think your child is bullied, a bully, or a bystander, you will be helping to protect your child just by asking these questions:

• “How are things going at school?”
• “What do you think of the other kids in your class?”
• “Does anyone get picked on or bullied?”

When your child is bullied, talk with your child about how to stay safe.  Bullies always pick on smaller or weaker children. If there is a fight, and the bully “wins,” this will only make matters worse for your child.

Help your child learn how to respond

Let’s talk about what you can do and say if this happens again.

Teach your child how to:

• Look the bully in the eye.
• Stand tall and stay calm in a difficult situation.
• Walk away.

Teach your child how to say in a firm voice:

• “I don’t like what you are doing.”
• “Please do NOT talk to me like that.”
•  “Why would you say that?”

Just telling your child to do and say these things is not enough. For many children, these skills do not come naturally. It is like learning a new language—lots of practice is needed. Practice so that, in the heat of the moment, these skills will come to your child naturally.

Teach your child when and how to ask for help. Your child should not be afraid to ask an adult for help when bullying happens. Since some children are embarrassed about being bullied, parents need to let their children know that being bullied is not their fault.

Encourage your child to make friends with other children. There are many adult-supervised groups, in and out of school, that your child can join. Invite your child’s friends over to your home. Children who are loners are more likely to get picked on.

Support activities that interest your child. By participating in activities such as team sports, music groups, or social clubs, your child will develop new abilities and social skills. When children feel good about how they relate to others, they are less likely to be picked on.

Alert school officials to the problems and work with them on solutions.

• Since bullying often occurs outside the classroom, talk with the principal, guidance counselor, or playground monitors, as well as your child’s teachers. When school officials know about bullying, they can help stop it.
• Write down and report all bullying to your child’s school. By knowing when and where the bullying occurs, you and your child can better plan what to do if it happens again.
• Some children who are bullied will fear going to school, have difficulty paying attention at school, or develop symptoms like headaches or stomach pains.

When Your Child is the Bully

If you know that your child is bullying others, take it very seriously. Now is the time when you can change your child’s behavior.

In the long run, bullies continue to have problems. These problems often get worse. If the bullying behavior is allowed to continue, then when these children become adults, they are much less successful in their work and family lives and may even get in trouble with the law.

Set firm and consistent limits on your child’s aggressive behavior. Be sure your child knows that bullying is never OK.

Be a positive role model. Children need to develop new and constructive strategies for getting what they want.

Show children that they can get what they want without teasing, threatening, or hurting someone. All children can learn to treat others with respect.

Use effective, nonphysical discipline, such as loss of privileges. When your child needs discipline, explain why the behavior was wrong and how your child can change it.

Help your child understand how bullying hurts other children. Give real examples of the good and bad results of your child’s actions.

Develop practical solutions with others. Together with the school principal, teachers, counselors, and parents of the children your child has bullied, find positive ways to stop the bullying.

In the Philippines, the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) Inc. also denounces child bullying in school communities.  Pediatricians are encouraged to actively engage in the detection and prevention of child bullying in schools.  It also recommends that teachers and educators serve as co-equal frontliners in the identification of both perpetrator and victim of child bullying by practicing vigilance and a high index of suspicion especially in picking up the “subtle” manifestations of this dysfunctional condition. Families are also advised to encourage open lines of communication with their children to facilitate an environment where an honest and open disclosure of this “hidden” problem can be made.

Essay topics are enough of the same type for all levels of American education: whether the student program, graduate school, or Internship (workshop for men of science). As a rule, there is a list of several topics to choose, centered around the question: ‘what do I want?’, ‘Why do I want that? ” and ‘how am I going to do this? ” The wording of the often unpleasant for the hearing aid is used to the shrill music of the national mentality.

For example: ‘Describe your accomplishments and the risk, in connection with this, you are ready to take, or ethical dilemma you are facing, and its effect on you.” Or: ‘Who is the person who influenced you and describe that influence.” As an option – ‘Describe the literary character, historical figure or work of art, music, science, that has affected you, please describe that influence”. “Discuss some aspects of personal, national, or international relations, their importance to you.”

Choose a program of some of the U.S. business schools hold an answer about the thematic framework: ‘Describe achievements that demonstrate your potential as a leader and manager’ or ‘Describe a situation where your contribution to the solution of the problem led to the desired goal.” Perhaps more suavely: ‘Please, comment on your strengths and weaknesses in certain activities.” Often, American universities and schools ask: ‘Tell us why you’re looking for vocational education’, ‘What made you (at this stage of your life) to further education is in our school.” Scary sounds the theme-question ‘What do you want to achieve so that your success in the profession have remained for centuries.

When not satisfied with none of the proposed order may, grab the anchor – a free theme. American universities and schools almost always include it in the list. Free theme binds to an independent choice. Therefore, revealing it to be sure that the work will be interesting to the reader.

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Art itself became a sphere of great interest for Goncourt brothers. In 1851 was published their first novel, “In the year 18 …” in which the image of the protagonist of the novel by Charles displayed the negative, skeptical attitude of authors to the social activism and opposition to its creative activity. The novel was not successful. Goncourt brothers turned to journalism. In 1852 – 1853 years. They had published critical articles and pamphlets in the Paris newspapers “Eclair” and “Paris.” Because of the cited in an article frivolous poem of the XVI century poet Taureau, brothers were brought to justice. After successful completion of the brothers Goncourt imbued disgust and turned to journalism history. In their history books Goncourt brothers created a new type of historical research, where the focus is not the macro-and micro-history, life, customs and tastes of the society of the studied period. Goncourt brothers tried on the basis of detailed, meticulous examination of the facts and documents of the era to recreate its true face. This method works Goncourt brothers moved on to study art in the book “The Art of the XVIII century” («L’Art du XVIII-e siecle», 1859 – 1875). XVIII century in the interpretation of the brothers Goncourt was the era of celebration of human individuality. In the work of artists of this century for them to close the ability to grasp life’s experiences in their life forms. Goncourt brothers declared themselves as connoisseurs of fine art of the Enlightenment and as a writer impressionistic orientation. Historical works Goncourt brothers began a preparatory stage for their artistic work, 60-ies.

In the early 60′s Goncourt brothers had a reputation for talented writers and serious historians, they entered the circle of famous writers who gathered in 1862 at Magny restaurateur. Goncourt brothers met with G. Flaubert, T. Gautier, Saint-Bev, I. heater, George Sand, Turgenev.

In the novel «Charles Demailly» they were talking about the fate of a young and talented writer who hunted journalists. Charles Demailly, and also the following brothers Goncourt novels – «Sxm Philomene», «Renee Mauperin» they have demonstrated a taste of writers to the documents, mastery of psychological analysis and detailed descriptions , an acute sense of color and increased susceptibility. The plot of these novels – the actual events, the prototypes of the main characters often had friends’ brothers Goncourt. Nevertheless, the brothers Goncourt novels are not biographies, because they were interested not so much the evolution of the hero, as the drama of his collision with the environment.

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Thus, under the jurisprudence there can be used several interrelated concepts:
- The science of state and law, examining the results of legal regulation and broad legal ideas about the possibility of a progressive change in the mechanism and means of regulating society.
- Body of knowledge about the state, government, law, whose presence gives rise to the professional training of legal activity.
- The practical application of legal knowledge, the legal profession.
- System of training legal professionals in law schools.

Law science is one of the social sciences, and studies law, the legal system as a system of social norms, law making and enforcement activities. While writing this science you are required to write law papers, study different cases, read many books and learn laws.

In the XX century in the developed countries of Western Europe, North America and other countries legal education was very widely spread and it became like a tradition. This is due to the increased role of the legal regulation of social relations in modern states. A reduction in the number of law students were observed after the Second World War, but since mid-1950 it again increased significantly.

As a rule, in all countries there are legal departments in universities, and individual law schools, which prepare personnel for the various levels of government, lawyers. However, legal education is still not unified. For example, in France after 1968 there was a separation of universities in the faculties revoked, but instead created a number of specialized training centers (based on the University of Paris – 13 training centers, including 6 – legal professions).

In the U.S., Britain, Germany and other countries, a law degree gives the right to occupy a purely legal positions and work on a number of related professions, but to work as a lawyer, the prosecutor’s office, at some positions of the state apparatus is often required additional training. In France, for training of judicial office or work as a lawyer it is necessary, having a diploma, to pass additional exams and get another degree (so-called qualification certificate). In the Scandinavian countries, in Latin America, the diploma of legal education is usually enough to fill all legal positions.

Legal education is divided into several training cycles. In the U.S., UK, Mexico and other countries the 1st cycle lasts 3 years and graduates awarded a Bachelor of Law, the 2nd cycle – 1 year (graduates receive a Master of Laws). At some universities, there is the third cycle of higher scientific training, after which the assigned degree of Doctor of Laws. In France, legal education consists of two two-year cycles: general education (at the end of the diploma) and specialization (awarded the title of Bachelor of Laws). The title of Doctor of Laws conferred graduates additional cycle of high-level and writing a thesis.

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“Oliver Twist” is directed against the “Poor Law”, against the workhouses, against the existing political economy concepts. Soothing public opinion promises happiness and prosperity for the majority. Achieves happiness only Oliver Twist, and then thanks to the romantic mood of the author’s belief that whiteness, purity of the soul of Oliver, his strength in life’s challenges require compensation. But it would be a mistake to assume that the novel – is the fulfillment of the author of its public mission. “Oliver Twist” was also a kind of civil answer to Dickens’s dominance at the time the so-called Newgate novels, in which the story of thieves and criminals was conducted exclusively in the melodramatic and romantic colors, and themselves violators of the law was a type of Superman, is very attractive to readers. Byronic hero turned into a criminal environment.

Dickens spoke against idealization of the crime and those who commit it. Dickens is studying the mechanism of evil, its impact on human rights; good as he realized the images of Mr. Brownlow and Oliver Twist himself, Rose Meili. The most prominent were the images of the Feigin, Sykes, Nancy. However, Nancy has some attractive traits, and even showing affection to Oliver, but she also severely pay for it.

In the preface to the book Dickens clearly outlined the essence of his idea: “I thought that depict actual members of criminal gangs, to draw them in all their ugliness, with all their wickedness, to show the squalid, impoverished their lives, show them as what they actually – ever stolen, they covered anxiety, on the dirtiest paths of life, and wherever they look, everywhere is looming in front of them black scary gallows – I felt that to portray it – then try to do what is necessary and that will serve service society. And I played the best of my ability. True, the realistic portrayal of London’s floor and its inhabitants in this novel is often romanticized and sometimes melodramatic tones. Oliver Twist, going to school life Feigin, who taught him the art thieves, is virtuous and pure child. He feels his unsuitability for the craft to which he pushes an old rascal, but easy, and feels free in a cozy bedroom, Mr. Brownlow, which immediately draws attention to the portrait of a young woman who subsequently proved to be his mother.

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1. First of all, you should think of the theme of the essay. Remember: every word in the name of the topic is important. Determine what should be written in the it.

2. Think about the basic idea of the paper, what words, sentences can reveal it. Make a plan.

3. Write the essay, observing the sequence of presentation.

4. Pick up figurative words and expressions.

5. Avoid repetition of the same words, phrases.

6. Show your attitude to what you write about.

7. Do not forget to draw conclusions.

8. Read your own essay: whether it discloses the subject, whether points of the plan are disclosed, edit those parts of essay, in which the theme or the main message points of the plan are disclosed not enough.

9. Pay attention to the style of the work, whether the thoughts are successfully expressed, make the necessary corrections.

Two approaches to disclosure of the topic when essay writing:

Are you wondering on how to disclose a theme of the work?
Let us suppose that there are two different approaches to disclosure issues.
What result they will lead to – that’s the measure of their accuracy.

FIRST APPROACH

Your attitude to the purpose of the work: In the essay should not only be affected, but also disclosed all aspects of the topic, the essay should contain a maximum of information on the topic.

PURPOSE OF SUCH AN ESSAY: Reflect the full amount of known information, knowledge on the subject of the essay.

FORMULA OF SUCH ESSAY: Essay is a maximum of information on the topic.

What is the result?
Something shapeless about the topic.

At the end we see that such an approach is wrong.

SECOND APPROACH

Your attitude to the purpose of the work: It is impossible to disclose all aspects of the topic in one essay, so you should stay only on one very simple premise (statement) and the select arguments (evidence) for this thesis.

PURPOSE OF COMPOSITIONS: Prove the only reason a simple and clear thesis (statement) under the theme of the paper.

FORMULA COMPOSITIONS: Essay is a thesis and its arguments.

What was the result?
Purposeful intellectual activity, leading to the result – a conclusion.

RIGHT TRIP: COMPOSITION = THESIS + ARGUMENT

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