Bullying workshop

NEWS RELEASE – PLEASE PUBLISH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. GIBBON FAITH UNITED, P O BOX 159, GIBBON, NE
68840 308-432-5521 PASTOR CATHY COLE

Bullying is on the rise.
• Over 16% of all U.S. students have been targets of bullying during the current school term.
(regions.adl.org)

42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once.

•

35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 more than once.

•

21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.

•

58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10
say it has happened more than once.

•

•

53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3
have done it more than once.

•

58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them
online. Based on 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8

Cyber bullying victims were almost twice as likely to have attempted suicide compared to youth who
had not experienced cyber bullying. (cyberbullying.us)

•

Help is needed.

On October 15, Becoming an Ally: Interrupting Name-Calling and Bullying, a training class for middle
school and high school students and their parents will be hosted by and held at Faith United, 203
Garfield, Gibbon, NE. The cost is $10 per family. Scholarships are available.

The goal in providing these workshops is to give students and parents the tools needed to combat
bullying in their schools and online by:

ü Developing an understanding of name-calling and bullying behaviors
ü Examining the cycle of name-calling and bullying and its impact on students who are targets of
these behaviors
ü Gain specific tools and strategies for interrupting students name-calling and bullying behaviors

by offering both a Parent Training Workshop that will help parents become better aware of bullying and
name calling and to better intervene when their children are either perpetrators or targets of bullying
(educators are also invited) and a Student Training Workshop for middle and high school to help
students become allies and to learn specific tools and strategies for interrupting bullying behaviors. At
least one parent/guardian must attend for a student to participate.

The workshops will be led by A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute, a leading provider of anti-bias
education and diversity training programs and resources. The Institute seeks to help participants:
recognize bias and the harm it inflicts on individuals and society; explore the value of diversity; improve
intergroup relations; and combat racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry.

To make reservations or for additional information call Faith United at 308-468-5521.

Additional Background Information

October 2011 is the sixth annual Anti-Bullying Month (Wikipedia.com)

October 3, 2011: Roxana Spady, Nebraska Mother, Says Son Was Hazed, Seeks $650,000 From
Columbus Public Schools (huffingtonpost.com)

LB 205 LB 205 Anti-bullying statute Approved by the Governor February 7, 2008
Introduced by Howard, 9; Adams, 24; Ashford, 20; Avery, 28; Hudkins, 21; Kopplin, 3; Kruse, 13;
Nantkes, 46; Preister, 5.

FOR AN ACT relating to schools; to amend section 79-267, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2006; to provide for a bullying policy; to change provisions relating to student discipline; to repeal the
original section; and to declare an emergency. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
Section 1. (1) The Legislature finds and declares that: (a) Bullying disrupts a school’s ability to educate
students; and
(b) Bullying threatens public safety by creating an atmosphere in which such behavior can escalate into
violence. (2) For purposes of this section, bullying means any ongoing pattern of physical, verbal, or
electronic abuse on school grounds, in a vehicle owned, leased, or contracted by a school being used
for a school purpose by a school employee or his or her designee, or at school-sponsored activities
or school-sponsored athletic events. (3) On or before July 1, 2009, each school district as defined
in section 79-101 shall develop and adopt a policy concerning bullying prevention and education for
all students. (4) The school district shall review the policy annually. Sec. 2. Section 79-267, Revised
Statutes Cumulative supplement, 2006, is amended to read: 79-267 The following student conduct shall
constitute grounds for
long-term suspension, expulsion, or mandatory reassignment, subject to the procedural provisions of
the Student Discipline Act, when such activity occurs on school grounds, in a vehicle owned, leased, or
contracted by a school being used for a school purpose or in a vehicle being driven for a school purpose
by a school employee or by his or her designee, or at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event: (1)
Use of violence, force, coercion, threat, intimidation, or similar conduct in a manner that constitutes a
substantial interference with school purposes; (2) Willfully causing or attempting to cause substantial
damage to property, stealing or attempting to steal property of substantial value, or repeated damage
or theft involving property; (3) Causing or attempting to cause personal injury to a school employee,
to a school volunteer, or to any student. Personal injury caused by accident, self-defense, or other
action undertaken on the reasonable belief that it was necessary to protect some other person shall not
constitute a violation of this subdivision; (4) Threatening or intimidating any student for the purpose of
or with the intent of obtaining money or anything of value from such student; (5) Knowingly possessing,
handling, or transmitting any object or material that is ordinarily or generally considered a weapon;
(6) Engaging in the unlawful possession, selling, dispensing, or use of a controlled substance or an
imitation controlled substance, as defined in section 28-401, a substance represented to be a controlled
substance, or
alcoholic liquor as defined in section 53-103 or being under the influence of a controlled substance or
alcoholic liquor; (7) Public indecency as defined in section 28-806, except that this subdivision shall apply
only to students at least twelve years of age but less than nineteen years of age; (8) Engaging in bullying
as defined in section 1 of this act; (8) (9) Sexually assaulting or attempting to sexually assault any
person if a complaint has been filed by a prosecutor in a court of competent jurisdiction alleging that the
student has sexually assaulted or attempted to sexually assault any person, including sexual assaults
or attempted sexual assaults which occur off school grounds not at a school function, activity, or event.
For purposes of this subdivision, sexual assault means sexual assault in the first degree as defined in
section 28-319, sexual assault in the second degree as defined in section 28-320, sexual assault of a
child in the second or third degree as defined in section 28-320.01, or sexual assault of a child in the first
degree as defined in section 28-319.01, as such sections now provide or may hereafter from time to time
be amended;
(9) (10) Engaging in any other activity forbidden by the laws of the State of Nebraska which activity

constitutes a danger to other students or interferes with school purposes; or (10) (11) A repeated
violation of any rules and standards validly established pursuant to section 79-262 if such violations
constitute a
substantial interference with school purposes. It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
suspension or expulsion be imposed against a student who is truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from
required school activities. Sec. 3. Original section 79-267, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2006, is repealed. Sec. 4. Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when passed and approved
according to law.

Cyber-Bullies in the News: Nebraska Posted on January 19, 2011 by admin http://cyberbullypolicy.com/
2011/cyber-bullies-in-the-news-nebraska/

NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE: Cyber-bullies Could Be Punished By School Districts

You might wonder how some kids can do and say such vicious things when they take on the disgusting
role of cyber bully.

A first thought: They’ve been watching too many politicians on television.

Whatever the cause, Sen. Lavon Heideman of Elk Creek has sponsored a measure (LB123) that would
give school districts authority to discipline student cyber bullies, regardless of whether their actions are
initiated at school or elsewhere.

The bill was scheduled for a public hearing Tuesday before the Legislature’s Education Committee.

The guts of the measure define cyber-bullying:

Cyber-bullying means any ongoing use of electronic mail, text messaging, social networking web sites,
or any other form of electronic communication, on or off of school grounds, with the intention of causing
harm or serious emotional distress to students or school personnel.

Each school district would be required to adopt an anti-cyber bullying policy. The measure would grant
school officials authority to deal with the issue. It notes:

Cyber-bullying … shall constitute grounds for long-term suspension, expulsion, or mandatory
reassignment, subject to the procedural provisions of the Student Discipline Act, if such conduct causes
or is reasonably projected to cause a substantial or material disruption of the school environment or
threatens the safety and security of students or school personnel, regardless of whether such conduct
occurs or is initiated on or off of school grounds.

Bullying Myths

•Bullying is an Isolated, Individual Aggressive Action – Bullying is not an isolated aggressive

action. In fact, bullying/victimization problems are influenced by peers, families, schools, and
communities.

•Bullying Occurs Between a Bully and a Victim – Bullying is a dynamic social relationship problem

and many youth move in and out of various roles.

•Anti-Bullying Polices are Ineffective – Anti-Bullying policies create awareness and lay the

foundation for lasting societal change.

•It’s Impossible to Stop Bullying – When there is positive adult leadership in schools, positive

student leadership, and healthy relationships there is less bullying.

•Bullying Prevention and Intervention are Complicated and Expensive – The development of

healthy social relationships is free. Strategies don’t have to be expensive and should simply be
based upon the golden rule.

•Physical Bullying is More Damaging than Relational or Verbal Bullying – “Sticks and stones

may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” is UNTRUE. With cyber bullying on the rise
verbal bullying can go undetected, maybe for years.

The above myths taken from the book “Bullying Prevention and Intervention” by Susan Swearer, Dorothy
L. Espelage, and Scott Napolitano.

Other Myths

•No Bullying Here/No Gangs Here – Schools and communities that deny the possibility or presence

are where you are MOST likely to find both flourishing in anonymity.

•Right of Passage – Adults believe that since they went through “bullying or were also in gangs that

it is a normal stage that kids must go through.

•They Are Tough – Gang members and bullies are weak, and cowardly and when they are without a

victim to bully have low self esteem.

•They are Popular – They are surrounded by people not because of popularity but fear.

•Small Communities are Immune – Small communities think they are immune; they are more likely

to have higher bully/gang victimization rates. Gangs find the suburbs a lucrative alternative to the
cities where competition cuts into the profits.

Adapted from http://behavioral-management.com/bullying-mythsBottom of Form

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