I have a very Politically Incorrect story to confess (my favorite kind!). My youngest is a boy and very small for his age. When he was in preschool — a wonderful preschool with an equally wonderful teacher and assistant teacher — another little boy his size bullied him by whacking him on several occasions with a block that is basically a 2 x 4 chunk of wood. I witnessed this during the wait time before the drop off. Read more…
Pull up a chair, click on a book, and read why more educators, parents, librarians, organizations and experts are recommending My Secret Bully, Just Kidding, Sorry!, Trouble Talk®, Too Perfect, Confessions of a Former Bully, and Better Than You as invaluable tools to supplement their life skills/character education/anti-bullying curricula. Read more…
Do you have questions about bullying? Are you worried your child is being bullied, or that your child may be a bully? Bullying doesn’t end in school. Do you have to deal with a bully at work?
The Detroit Free Press is taking your questions about bullying this week. Read more…
Learning about our differences can be a powerful way for children to see from another person’s point of view. I encourage all parents to introduce some of these chapter books or others like these to their children and use these stories as a reference when children bring up differences in school, particularly with special needs classmates. Because how great would it be if it were OUR child who can reach out with compassion like MacKenzie in The Friendship Puzzle?! Read more…
My oldest daughter is now in Middle School and that alone makes me nervous. Middle School is The Worst Years of My Life for pretty much everyone I know including myself. She’s actually loving Middle School right now but with only 3 months into it, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Read more…
I found this great summary by Autumn Rain Creations who summarized a book by Ellen Notbohm called Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew and I just shortened her summary. But do go to her blog if you want more details. Or check out the book at the library. Read more…
I found this article by Carrie Snyder. Here’s an excerpt:
In a new book, The World Needs Your Kid, co-written by Craig and his brother Marc Kielburger, with Shelley Page, the brothers argue that any child has the potential to change the world. And that parents have a big role to play. Written in a light-hearted and easy-to-read style, the book is chockfull of practical suggestions that families can easily grab onto and do, while learning and putting into practice the “Three C’s”: compassion, courage, and community. Some suggestions apply more to older children and teens, and others work for families like ours, with children eight and under. Here are our top 10 inspirations from The World Needs Your Kid… Read more…
Update
Teen Cyberbullying Investigated: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin? by Judge Tom Jacobs
Written from a legal point of view, Judge Tom Jacobs puts cyberbullying versus the First Amendment into perspective. While this is a dense book full of case studies and tragic stories of cyberbullying, it would be most helpful as a handbook for someone who child is being cyberbullied OR someone studying or perhaps crafting guidelines on do’s and don’ts of internet communication and bullying. It’s must read for school adminstrators, teachers, and PTO/PTA board members. Read more…
There is a new sheriff in town in Massachusetts — ok, it’s a law not a sheriff — and it’s well intended but ineffective. Worse, its vagaries are having unintentional consequences. Like lawsuits from parents against schools when their kid is accused of being a bully. I understand that no one wants bullying and its new evil cousin, cyber bullying, to run rampant in their community but this law seems like a knee jerk reaction to seem like it’s solving a problem when the “solution” is actually part of the problem. Read more…
