A lot of discussion is being made about the attack on Fort Hood, where a psychiatrist went amok and decided to kill his fellow soldiers.
Here in the Philippines, we sometimes see a quiet guy suddenly go “amok” and machete his relatives or superiors. Usually people can’t understand it, but actually everyone figures he had finally […]

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As I was watching the local news last evening, I happened to see a segment on the issue of zero tolerance on there. Basically, local school districts were giving their policies and procedures as to how they handle this problem within their schools. The parents were complaining that zero tolerance was too strict and needed […]

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Who among us has not had their faith challenged? What are we to tell the person who, for whatever reason, has lost faith in God? Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow examines how a young boy destined for the clergy became a soldier in WWII. After killing numerous […]

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Missouri has responded effectively to cyber bullying via web sites and text messaging; has your state?
After the Lori Drew case in Missouri, in which a MySpace account was used to bully 13-year old Megan Meier, who committed suicide, Missouri legislators passed laws criminalizing cyber-bullying, harassment and abuse, and schools created zero-tolerance policies.  School authorities and […]

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Wow! Another week and another Google Alert. This time, its about having cameras in the classrooms in the United Kingdom. Wonder if this trend will hit up the United States?
A group in the UK called Class watch sets up cameras in classrooms and uses this as a basis for professional development. So far, they have […]

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Zachary Christie, A six y/o “A” student at John R. Downes Elementary School in Delaware, brought his favorite Cub Scout camping utensil (a combination knife, fork and spoon) to school to eat lunch with it — he eats all his meals at home with it and saw no problem with taking it to school.That […]

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As reported in the Huffington Post, to focus attention on National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, Disney star Demi Lovato has gone public.  She was bullied so much in school that she and her parents chose to do home schooling rather than face the bullies at school.  Her story follows Miley Cyrus telling of being bullied, […]

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One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “Why Do Bullies Keep Abusing Us?”
I hear that from:

Kids who want to stop bullies at school.
Adults who want to stop bullying in their love lives or in relationships with their siblings, parents and friends.
Adults who don’t understand why their teenagers are so demanding, nasty and surly.
Adults […]

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The Wall Street Journal had a story on “The rich rolling in armored splendor in Brazil.”  The part I want to emphasize was about a 19 year-old girl who insisted that she have a pink VW Beetle armored.  She wouldn’t settle for another color or another car, like an Audi.  Her father said, that safety […]

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I started working on an article earlier this morning about Representative Charles Rangel and his attempt to throw the race card into the healthcare reform debate.  In researching past quotes of Charles Rangel, I came across a quote of his which makes me want to immediately fly to New York or Washington DC, wherever this uneducated […]

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Wow! The unthinkable has happened and that is a Facebook cyber bully is now in jail. Yes, in jail for tormenting another young woman on Facebook and Bebo for several years. However, this did not happen in the United States but in the United Kingdom. I hope the United States will follow suit at some […]

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Current statistics show that bullying is prevalent – over 50% of kids report being bullied or observing bullying.  Bullying by girls is just as prevalent as by boys (although they often use different tactics) and bullying in “good” neighborhoods is just as prevalent as in “bad” ones.
Most parents want to understand why bullies bully, “Is […]

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Wow! Another day and another case of abuse on the records. Yes, this time it is done by a 40 year old woman in Missouri by the name of Elizabeth A. Thrasher. I guess the acts of Lori Drew were not enough to either wake people up to these things or completely put a stop […]

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Do an internet search under the topic, “What makes a great teacher” and you will be flooded with opinions. The criteria range from an oversimplified checklist of behaviors to the esoteric musings of a professor emeritus of literature. My book, Teacher of the Year: The Mystery and Legacy of Edwin Barlow examines this issue, among […]

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Some people believe fervently, passionately and whole-heartedly that if you love bullies, if you give them what they want, if you’re kind enough, then you’ll melt their hearts, they’ll come to their senses and they’ll stop bullying.  Sometimes, rarely, that does work.
But the wisdom of both history and the world’s great literature tells you that […]

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A recent article has been written asking the question as to why can’t we stop the problem of bullying. The Georgia Coalition Against Bullying will be meeting soon and earlier in the summer the American Academy of Pediatrics was encouraged to start taking a bigger role in the prevention of bullying. Is bullying really just […]

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The age old issues of racism and slavery along with the current sensitivity to bullying are all tough topics for kids. Rarely are they handled so well with such sensitivity as they are in this novel.
 
The Secret Of The Lonely Grave
By Albert A. Bell, Jr.
Ingalls Publishing Group
http://www.ingallspublishinggroup.com
ISBN # 978-1-932158-79-3
Large Trade Paperback
159 Pages
  
The story […]

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Training Standards for School Administrators
As Dr. David Milton takes the helm at The State Education Department, a fresh challenge awaits him.  New York  requires that a School Administrator become licensed by the State, (as it does with principals). Very often this process is undertaken by a successful classroom teacher, who having achieved a certain level […]

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In his article in the Costco Connections, “Stop Hassling Me: Breaking the Cycle of Bullying,” Steve Fisher quotes Psychologist Izzy Kalman as saying:

“School anti-bullying programs don’t work.”
“I hate referring to kids as bullies.”
“Be nice to kids when they’re mean to you and before long they will stop being mean.  This is known as the Golden […]

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Broken into four sections, this book is designed to teach you everything you every wanted to know about container gardening. The first section is about design and how to come up with a workable design for your gardening area. Before it gets to that though, the section opens with a multi page history lesson on […]

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On July 2, a federal judge overturned guilty verdicts rendered by the jury against Lori Drew, 50, who was accused of participating in a cyber bullying scheme against 13-year-old Megan Meier, who later committed suicide.
This case demonstrates why we need federal laws to stop cyber bullying, harassment and abuse.
The facts in the case were agreed […]

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According to the Wall Street Journal, a recent report on cyberbullying suggests that, unlike other Internet scares, this one is well-founded, but it questions some of the regulatory efforts that are gathering steam.  “The report, by the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a right-leaning Washington think tank that focuses on technology public policy, says that data […]

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With recipes by Adam Ried, this colorful book is organized by four sections labeled for each season of the year. The forty-four soup and a few stew recipes are organized that way to take advantage of what should be in stock and of the highest quality at that time.  After an intro that pushes using […]

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As the editor of a blog for authors and their readers, I have been posting an extended series at PODBRAM (Print On Demand Book Reviews & More) called The Kindle Report. This is a review of Joshua Tallent’s how-to book for uploading a book or manuscript into the Kindle format.
Let’s just jump right into the […]

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Unions had their place and did great things for the American worker, but I think now is the time for the pendulum to swing the other way for a bit.
New York City has about 700 teachers who are sitting on their duffs… not teaching, not doing anything creative for children. They have been accused of […]

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Numerous articles, including Sandy Maple’s on parentdish.com, “Teen Insult Web Site Shut Down,” have reported that online free speech has bowed to the pressure of community values.  A web site, “People’s Dirt,” has been pulled out of cyberspace by Go Daddy, the internet host, in an effort to stop online harassment, cyber bullying and abuse.  […]

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In his recent ABC news opinion column, “Want to Stop Bullies?” Lee Dye cites new studies that claim that:

Girls are more likely than boys to intervene to stop bullying than boys are.
Girls intervene more because they’re expected to by their parents, best friends and favorite teachers.
Popular males are more likely to pick on weaker boys, […]

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As reported in separate stories by Yadira Betances and Margo Sullivan in the New Hampshire Eagle Tribune, some middle schools are effectively implementing anti-bullying programs.  There are some differences in the programs to stop bullies, but both have the seven elements crucial to success.

1. The programs specify what acceptable and not acceptable behavior is
General statements […]

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We all recognize as bullies, brutes (male or female) at work or in our love and family lives who hit people or threaten physical violence.  But more bullies get away with their harassment, bullying and abuse by taking advantage of their victims’ rules about politeness.
In her article in the Miami Herald, “It’s time to get […]

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Another week and another story on the debauchery that happens in cyber land. I tell you what, I hear, read and see a lot of stuff out there. We have watched the human race and society itself hit an all time low in the past few years. I keep trying to hold on and have […]

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