A lot of adults wonder why kids don't often tell a parent or "trusted adult" they're experiencing bullying, and what Aaron Cheese, 15, told his mom, finally, after years of dealing with it in silence, probably strikes a chord with a lot of young people: "He said it was that he didn't want to bring that home. Like, he wanted to walk in the door and just be a normal, regular kid," his mother, Jean … [Read more...] about Bullying: Reasons why kids don’t tell their parents
Rosalind Wiseman
Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
"When a child mentions schoolyard dialog that sounds almost surreal, or reveals an eyebrow raising text message and asks, 'ok, so what would you say to THIS?' I want to be able to apply calm, social emotional learning rather than have analysis paralysis with stunned, kneejerk reactions to blunt, crude one-liners, thinking 'wth? did they really just say that? Yougawdabekiddinme' More often than not … [Read more...] about Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
A cyberbullying epidemic? No!
Please note: There is no cyberbullying epidemic. Like author and anti-bullying expert Rosalind Wiseman, I can't believe how many times I've been asked about "the epidemic" and what's to be done about it. Rosalind suggests that the epidemic is in bad PSAs and "educational" videos aimed at bullying prevention. I agree, but also suggest that we've been experiencing an epidemic of news coverage of … [Read more...] about A cyberbullying epidemic? No!
When adults bully our kids
Just because bullying of children by children is in the news a lot doesn't mean it's new, growing, or done only by children. But it remains a problem – a very serious one for some children (see this ) – and "we will never address the bullying problem between our students if we don’t address it among ourselves," writes educator Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes in her blog. I … [Read more...] about When adults bully our kids
A child’s self-destructive behavior: Test for ‘digital citizenship’
The story of "Jessi Slaughter" last week is a textbook example of what digital-citizenship instruction* needs to address: digital-age self-destructive behavior. Harassing and threatening others (whether or not in retaliation, as was part of Jessi's story) is self-destructive because, as the research shows, aggressive behavior online is very likely to lead to victimization online (see Archives of … [Read more...] about A child’s self-destructive behavior: Test for ‘digital citizenship’