Cartoon Network, which is more the middle-schoolers' network than any TV network, plans to involve that key demographic in the fight against bullying. In the fall, it teams up with CNN to launch "an ambitious campaign to enlist them as foot soldiers in the fight against bullying," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. What I think they mean by "ambitious" is really smart: in several ways: … [Read more...] about Cartoon Network does anti-bullying *intelligently*
bullying
Why anti-bullying laws don’t work: School psychologist’s view
With the passage of Massachusetts's new anti-bullying law, 42 states now have laws against bullying, Education Week reports, citing "the most recent data available from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration" of the Department of Health and Human Services. But anti-bullying laws don't work, says Izzy Kalman in a blog at Psychology Today. They don't work because they require a … [Read more...] about Why anti-bullying laws don’t work: School psychologist’s view
Formspring: What’s really going on?
Nobody's completely sure – even social-media researchers who talk to teens a lot – but it is clear that the Formspring phenomenon didn't come out of nowhere. Remember those personality tests and fashion-sense quizzes in teen magazines? In the digital-age versions, danah boyd writes in DMLcentral.net, teens would – through questions and answers in pre-Web public online spaces like Usenet; "chain … [Read more...] about Formspring: What’s really going on?
Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?
It was an interesting pair of education news stories to break in a single week: a principal urging his students' parents to ban their kids' use of Facebook and the Teacher of the Year being honored for teaching with, among other things, Facebook (see this). In an email to parents, Anthony Orsini, principal of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgeway, NJ, said that "the main problem is that … [Read more...] about Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?
MA passed its anti-bullying law
The Massachusetts state legislature unanimously yesterday passed a new law "cracking down on bullying," the Boston Globe reports. "The bill gained momentum after the deaths of the 15-year-old [Phoebe] Prince [of South Hadley] and 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover of Springfield, who allegedly committed suicide after being bullied." The bill now goes to Gov. Deval Patrick for signing; a … [Read more...] about MA passed its anti-bullying law