CAMPANELLA: School choice and kids’ safety: Preventing bullying:

The Washington Times

Educational freedom not just about academics

By Andrew Campanella

When people think of school choice, they think of parents selecting new, rigorous, challenging schools for their children.

For some parents, though, the need for choice isn’t just about academics. It’s about the safety — both physical and emotional — of their children.

Through my work, I’ve met parents who fall into every camp — parents who yearn for more academically challenging schools for their children, parents who want to remove their children from persistently violent schools and parents who recognize that without switching schools for their kids, their children will be emotionally tortured — bullied — by mean kids.

Robust school choice can help children escape bullying, and it’s time for people who are engaged in our national discussion about this issue to embrace meaningful, bold and unrestrained school choice for all families.

Parents should have the option to send their children to a great traditional public school, a public charter school, a private school, a magnet school or an online academy. The bottom line is this: No children should ever be forced to attend schools that don’t work for them. Even if a school works for 99 percent of the students attending it, if it doesn’t work for your child — you deserve options.

When parents can select the right schools for their children, they can put their children in a caring, nurturing, safer environment. They can make it clear to school administrators that they want their children looked after, treated with respect and dignity. In the process, as schools begin competing for children, administrators will be forced to address the concerns of parents more quickly on issues that directly impact the well-being of young people, like bullying or violence.

School choice doesn’t just help kids who are being bullied. It can actually provide a lifeline for kids who are, for whatever reason, mistreating others. I’ve heard from families about how taking a seemingly violent child out of one school and providing him or her individualized attention in another environment can change a child’s life and encourage kindness and compassion.

Is school choice the only solution to bullying or to school violence? No. Still, it is one solution.

Ruthanne Johnson’s story is what made me think about this issue anew, and made me realize that bullying isn’t just the latest Hollywood issue du jour.

Ruthanne spoke recently at National School Choice Week’s whistle-stop tour event in Toledo, Ohio. She spoke eloquently and poignantly about how she was bullied by a cadre of mean kids. Ruthanne is a sweet, beautiful girl with a loving family. She’s outgoing and friendly. For some reason, she was targeted.

My heart broke for Ruthanne and her mom. In reality, she and her family don’t need or want pity. They’re tackling this challenge — the need to end bullying and empower children to stand up for themselves — together. Ruthanne took her experience and created a nonprofit, the Be You Foundation, to educate and inspire other children who are facing tough times at school, and to speak out in favor of educational choice for families.

Aside from their own unique courage and ability to turn around a challenging situation, what kept hope alive for Ruthanne’s family was the fact that they had sway over their school, and their school’s administration, because of Ohio’s robust and diverse school choice policies. Ruthanne’s parents could have switched schools for her, but her situation got better — because her parents had leverage.

Now, Ruthanne is speaking out, empowering kids and families, and supporting an expansion of school choice for children. As Ruthanne says, it’s hard to “be you” if you’re in a school that doesn’t work for you. I couldn’t agree more.

There are hundreds of thousands of children who are bullied in our country, who aren’t treated by their classmates with the dignity and respect that every human being deserves.

When parents have greater power over the schools their children attend, kids have hope. With empowered parents come empowered children like Ruthanne, who are willing to take obstacles, overcome them and empower others. For the sake of our future, America needs more Ruthanne Johnsons. We need more adults who are willing to recognize that robust school choice can provide an essential solution to a crisis that plagues many families. We have no greater calling.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/21/school-choice-and-kids-safety-preventing-bullying/#ixzz2La0la3Lp

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Bullying for children with ASD:

The issue of bullying for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) article:

Being the victim of a childhood bully can have a lasting impact, including depression and diminished socioeconomic status, into adulthood. 1,2,3 Many adults who were once victims of bullying vividly recall the feelings of intimidation, the sometimes-daily battering of self-esteem. Many also recall the hands-off attitude that used to be common among teachers, principals, and other adults.

Fortunately, bullying, which was once considered a normal and unavoidable part of the schoolyard landscape, is now viewed as a much more serious matter. (Read More)

Bullied Teen Makes Simon Cowell Choke Up:_

Bullied Teenager Makes Simon Cowell Choke Up! - Inspirational Videos

The issue of Bullying for Children With Autism:

The issue of bullying for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) article - http://t.co/y60dkQkT http://t.co/0lKrg2ip -- Brett Fletcher (@TrinityMount)

Preventing Bullying & Embracing Diversity in Kentucky:

Preventing Bullying & Embracing Diversity in Kentucky

September 5th, 2012 Posted by Tracy Russo

The following post appears courtesy of the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Kerry B. Harvey.

Last week, Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division spoke to all the ninth-graders in Lexington, Ky., public schools and encouraged students to prevent bullying by embracing diversity.
The event was jointly organized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky and the Fayette County public school district to help educate students on the topics of bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools.
Approximately 700 students attended the event while around 2,400 participated from their respective schools through a live classroom feed. Students also took part in a question and answer session after the speech, with some submitting questions about bullying through emails and text messages to Assistant Attorney General Perez and others who were part of a panel.
Assistant Attorney General Perez:

“Today’s bullies are often tomorrow’s civil rights defendants. It’s important for schools to foster a learning environment where diversity isn’t just tolerated but embraced.”

 Assistant Attorney General Perez conducted a press conference for local media and student journalists.  The student journalists will compose stories on the topic for dissemination throughout their respective schools as a way to increase awareness about bullying.
 Studies show millions of students nationwide are bullied at school; including being shoved, pushed, tripped and even spit on by other students. The Anti-Defamation League found that bullying victims are more likely to engage in behaviors such as illegal drug use, dropping out of school and suicide.
As part of his visit to Lexington, Assistant Attorney General Perez also spoke about civil rights to at the University Of Kentucky College Of Law. He participated in an event attended by approximately 175 local leaders.  Audience members also heard from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Kerry B. Harvey, who described the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s ongoing civil rights initiative.
 The office and its law enforcement partners have been very active in investigating and prosecuting civil rights cases.  Earlier this month, the leader of a sex trafficking ring in Kentucky, Marco Antonio Flores-Benitez, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.   When Flores-Benitez pleaded guilty to the charges in May, it marked Kentucky’s first conviction for sex trafficking.   Three other defendants were also convicted and sentenced.
At an afternoon community event, the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented awards to officers from the Lexington Division of Police who helped investigate the sex trafficking case.   In addition, two officials from the University of Kentucky received awards for assisting the USAO in its civil rights efforts.
For more information about the department’s civil rights work, visit justice.gov/crt.

 

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DOJ - Tony West Speaks at The Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention 2012 Summit:

Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West Speaks at the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention 2012 Summit

Washington, D.C. ~ Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Thank you, Mel, for your kind introduction and for reminding us of the vital work being done every day by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.   Let me also thank our partners at the Department of Education, and to Secretary Duncan, for hosting this summit and inviting me to participate.

It’s a real privilege to be with you this morning.  I know that many of you have been instrumental in efforts to raise awareness about bullying, as well as how to prevent it, how to intervene to stop it, and how deal with it once it’s occurred.   You remind us that bullying is not simply a part of growing up; that it’s not just a matter of “kids being kids.”   You remind us that it’s unacceptable and it’s wrong and that we all share in the responsibility to prevent it.     And many of you are helping to give us the tools we’ll need, the data we’ll reference and the strategies we’ll use as we seek to change policy and improve young lives.

I join you today not only as a representative of the Department of Justice but, like many of you, as one who is now or has been a parent, an uncle, or a godparent to children in elementary, middle or high school.   And those experiences, coupled with the cases involving young victims of exploitation I prosecuted years ago as a federal prosecutor, have solidified for me a very straightforward idea – and it’s one that I know you share:   that in order for our young people to thrive, to blossom, to grow and fulfill their potential, they must be and feel safe – not just at home, but in school, on the playground, and online.  

But when nearly one in three middle and high school students report being bullied, and over half say they’ve witnessed bullying at school, we know that creating that sense of safety for our children won’t happen automatically.   It happens only to the extent individuals, both old   and young, make conscious choices -- often through acts of personal courage and outreach --  to create atmospheres of tolerance, climates of trust, environments both virtual and real where young people need not as the song says, “hide themselves in regret, but love themselves and be set,” and accept that invitation to be who they truly are.

For Attorney General Eric Holder and those of us at the Justice Department, this is important work about which we care deeply.   We care about it because while we’ve seen overall school violence decrease in recent years, bullying incidents – many with devastatingly tragic consequences – have become increasingly visible in the public eye.  

We care about this work we because we know that a majority of our children – over 60 percent, regardless of race – are exposed to some form of violence, crime, or abuse in their childhood – from brief encounters as witnesses to being direct victims themselves.  

And we care about it because we know that some of that violence is linked to bullying.  The research suggests that those who bully are more likely to grow up and abuse their partners, spouses or children.   So when we talk about effectively protecting our young people from violence in the home, at school or on the streets, that conversation is incomplete if it fails to explore strategies to prevent and eliminate bullying .  

I believe this work also matters because bullying, like youth violence, is not something that affects only those immediately involved; rather, it presents challenges that affect us all.   When kids who are the targets of bullies show up in school, not ready to learn because they’re too afraid – students who are more likely, the research suggests, to have lower GPAs or poorer standardized test scores – that’s not just a challenge for the victim or his or her family; that becomes an education challenge.  

And when those bullied children show up in doctor’s offices and clinics suffering from anxiety or depression or a whole host of other issues, that becomes a health care challenge.  

And when those bullied victims leave school and can’t find jobs because they don’t have the skills employers need because, as the research indicates, they’re more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school, then that becomes a business community challenge.  

And when those who bully come into contact with the criminal justice system as convicted defendants, as they’re more likely to do, according to trends we see, then that becomes a law enforcement challenge.  

So those single incidents of bullying are not events in isolation, one discrete from the other; they are like ripples in a lake that begin at a small center, emanating outward and growing in size, to touch shores unforeseen.

That’s why we care about this issue and this work.   And it’s it why we’ve been actively engaged in efforts to prevent bullying.  

In March of this year, for instance, the Departments of Justice and Education entered into a comprehensive consent decree with the Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota, requiring action by school officials after a DOJ Civil Rights investigation revealed that several students were skipping school, dropping out, even contemplating suicide because of severe harassment based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation.    After entry of the consent decree, one student noted that the climate at school had improved, saying that he’d gone a month and a half without being bullied.   “That has never happened before,” he said.   “I see change coming, and I’m really glad about it.”

We’ve also awarded grants to eight cities and tribal communities, as part of Attorney General Holder’s Defending Childhood Initiative – grants aimed at developing strategic plans for comprehensive, community-based anti-violence efforts, including anti-bullying programs.   In Boston, Massachusetts, for example, we’re supporting work to implement state-wide school bullying intervention and prevention legislation.   In Grand Forks, North Dakota, we’re funding efforts to expand restorative justice services for youth involved with bullying.   And in Portland, Maine, we’re helping to train teachers and other school staff in bullying prevention strategies.

And the nation’s U.S. Attorneys are also engaged in this work.   Attorney General Holder often says our U.S. Attorneys are community problem solvers, not case processors, and over the last two years they’ve helped to raise the spotlight on bullying prevention by convening community meetings, interagency summits and town halls in places like Detroit, Michigan; Portland, Oregon; Cleveland, Ohio; and next month, San Francisco, California.    

Now, notwithstanding these efforts and all of the other progress we’ve made to elevate bullying prevention as an issue of national priority, our work is far from over.   We must continue to stand up, to speak out, and to act in ways both big and small – public and private -- to reinforce the message that bullying knows no proper place.  

We must continue to work because t oday, somewhere, there’s a child who will feel the sting of a punch because the clothes he’s wearing aren’t cool; who will believe her difference is a detriment as she eats alone in a crowded school cafeteria; who will skip school another day to avoid a terrifying confrontation; or will contemplate suicide because nothing seems like it can hurt more than this moment of humiliation right now.

And for each one of those kids – children we know, children we love, children who more than a few of us here were at one time – for each of them we can’t afford to be bystanders.    And because of summits like this and commitment like yours, I’m confident that we won’t.

Thank you for everything you do on behalf of our Nation’s young people and thank you for inviting me to be with you this morning.

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