Safety Thought: When Bullies Grow Up

What happens when school-yard bullies are allowed to bully, then grow up to continue hurting others emotionally, mentally or physically? In Oklahoma, two men and two women attacked Stetson Johnson, an 18 year-old boy with learning disabilities, after he allegedly tried to have sex with one of the women. The group of four tattooed ‘RAPEST’ on his forehead, yelled obscenities at him, shocked him with a stun gun, then took him to a field and beat him unconscious with a baseball bat. The group is being held without bail with recommended charges of assault and battery, maiming by disfigurement and kidnapping. According to a police report, police seized tattoo guns, needles, ink and a Taser gun after the suspects were taken into custody. Johnson, who has the mentality of a fifth-grader, now has scars from the attack, trouble breathing, trouble seeing out of one eye and suffers from anxiety.

What could have schools done to teach these young adults about compassion and respect for others? What is your school or district doing to teach students bullying is not okay? Share your stories with us on Twitter @PSWORKS.


Source: MSNBC Online

StudentWatch: Spotlight on Student Safety

Violence and bullying in schools knows no age limits. Recently, a 10-year-old boy from Lakewood, CO was arrested after bringing his BB gun to Stein Elementary School and firing at six of his classmates. According to the Huffington Post, the fourth grader snuck his BB gun into the school and brought it out in class when his teacher looked away. He was arrested and booked on municipal assault and dangerous missile charges. The 10-year-old will also face automatic expulsion for bringing the gun to school. This is the second school shooting this year in Jefferson County. In February, a student shot and wounded two eighth-graders at Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, CO.

Keeping students safe from acts of rage is not always easy, but being prepared for these random incidents is important.


Source: HUFFPOST Denver

Youth violence: When your child is the bully

Protecting a child from bullies can be a parent’s nightmare. Knowing a child is going to a school where he or she is verbally or physically abused is hard to think about, but what happens when your child is the school-yard bully? According to WKTV.com, the one red flag with bullies is that they are likely suffering themselves and are often being bullied by others. If your child's accused of being the bully, it is more important to address the situation than to focus on who is to blame. Parents should work with their children to help them understand what bullying is and how it feels to be on the receiving end of bullying to develop a sense of what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes.

PublicSchoolWORKS’ Student Bullying Reporting System provides 24/7 online and telephone systems for students and parents to report bullying incidents, with built-in communication tools that immediately notify school administrators. Has your child been caught bullying at school? How did you address the issue?

Source: WKTV Online

StudentWatch: Spotlight on Student Safety

Working with students in science labs can present safety issues and anxiety. Teachers are hopeful that all students and staff will take their safety and the safety of others seriously when conducting experiments and tests. A recent lab-related tragedy brings this to light - One student at Yale University in New Haven, CT who was known for taking proper safety precautions, was recently killed in a tragic accident when her long hair got caught in lab equipment. The student, Michele Dufault, who was majoring in astronomy and physics, was working alone after hours on her senior thesis when she was killed.

According to the New York Times, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident and Yale University is reviewing their “safety policies and practices of laboratories, machine shops and other facilities with power equipment.” As a cautious student, Dufault had passed the University’s introductory to shop course, allowing her access to the lab, was enrolled in an advanced course on machine shop protocols and co-authored a 60-page document of safeguards for the NASA reduced-gravity experiment she assisted with last summer. Even with all of this knowledge, tragic accidents can still happen. Other schools can learn from this event and require students using potentially dangerous equipment to work in pairs, or follow other safety precautions.

Another tool schools can use to help prevent student accidents is PSW’s Student Accident Reporting & Management System. This system automates the management, notification, tracking and documentation of required accident management initiatives to reduce accidents and claims, while improving student play areas and building safety. Schools can use the system to track accident trends and provide retraining or change rules to make areas safer for students.

Source: The New York Times Online

Safety Thought: School Safety Policies

Albany Middle School in California is now using a “safe school ambassadors” program to keep the peace and build bridges among the school’s cliquey sixth through eighth grade students. According to the Albany Patch, 41 students who were considered influential to various cliques and social groups were selected to receive training in an effort to get rid of the bullying. Throughout their training, students learned how to talk, care and stand up for each other, no matter their background or clique. The “safe school ambassadors” have been given the tools to diffuse bullying, while being empowered to stand up and intervene when someone is being mistreated. The “safe school ambassadors” program is now being used in 900 schools around the country.

Knowing students have the power to influence each other, do you think a “safe school ambassadors” program would work well at your school? How have your students worked together to put an end to bullying at your school?

Source: Albany Patch

Youth violence: Victims who strike back

When victims of bullying have come to a breaking point and have finally had enough of the taunting and abuse, the situation often does not end well. Recently a video from an Australian school, where 7th grader Ritchard Gale bullied 10th grader Casey Heynes one too many times, went viral. The video, taken by another student, shows Gale taunting then punching Heynes multiple times. Once Heynes had enough, he fought back, eventually picking up Gale and slamming him on the ground. According to WXYZ, Gale was suspended from school for 21 days while Heynes was suspended for four days.

Why did it have to take a physical reaction from Heynes to stop the bullying? Do you agree with the punishment given to both of the students involved? What does your school do to punish the bullies, as well as the victims who react? Did this video teach a lesson to all of the bullies and bullied students who watched it?

Source: WXYZ.com

StudentWatch: Students Bullying Teachers

Student behavior at three schools in Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) in California has left many teachers anxious and afraid to go to work. Teachers say the student behavior at Curran Middle School, Walter Stiern Middle School and McKinley Elementary School is out of control and students are not being punished properly. The students are now bullying the teachers. At these schools, teachers are experiencing physical and verbal abuse such as shoving, slapping and yelling.

Many teachers suspect the district‘s goal to decrease suspensions is the reason students are not being properly punished. They believe the district is trying to prevent losing the funding that schools get for having students in class each day. According to Bakersfield.com, the BCSD Superintendent Michael Lingo said the district will put Curran, Stiern and McKinley “under a microscope” and he asked for a task force to be formed to study district discipline policies and issues.

With PublicSchoolWORKS’ Student Behavior Management System, BCSD could put their disciplining issues behind them. The system manages student discipline and other behavior data. It ensures that all staff and administrators maintain consistency in addressing student behaviors in compliance with board policies and federal, state and local regulations.

Source: Bakersfield.com