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All schools should have anti-bullying programs

    I wish to address the problem of bullying in schools. It should be mandated that all schools have an anti-bullying program. This is a serious problem because bullying can lead to depression, lower grades, students missing school and, in severe cases, suicide and school shootings.
    In a Kaiser Family Foundation study of 8- to 15-year-olds, it was found that more students cited that teasing and bullying were bigger problems than drugs, alcohol, racism, AIDS or pressure to have sex. Bullying behavior can start as early as preschool and peaks around middle school years. Therefore, programs need to be started in elementary school to help prevent bullying from happening and teach kids ways to cope and get help when bullying occurs.
    In a Jan. 22 CBS6 news story, I saw that the Guilderland Central School District is using the Olweus program, which teaches children to use empathy, anger management and conflict resolution skills to reduce bullying behavior. There has been a dramatic decrease in bullying since this program has come into use. I believe that there should be a mandate for an anti-bullying program in every school so that all kids can learn these skills and have a successful school experience.
    CORINNE SKALA
    Duanesburg

There wouldn't be any bullys if adults in the school system and in any public venue were given back their ability to be the adults......I'm sorry but with all these time outs, sitting in the corner and discussing better choices those with obtunded brains aren't getting it, and those without obtunded brains just think they have rights to ANYTHING just because of some students rights law.........a punk is a punk, a jerk is a jerk and YES there are consequences not a waiting to see what the law says....if your own dog attempts to bite your own child what happens to that dog.....are we dogs, no but there is still conditioning and personal discipline required-where does that come from?---certainly not the advertisers, Britney spears, Hugh Heffner or Mr.Clinton.... >

The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.


"...and the children will lead them..."-----into darkness if you ask me......right side up is right side up....what side are we treading now?

Well said Senders!! Unfortuantly it is almost non-existent!

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Killing of gay teen prompts call for teaching of tolerance
BY ASHLEY SURDIN The Washington Post

    LOS ANGELES — With his school uniform, eighth-grader Lawrence “Larry” King wore purple eye shadow, nail polish and pink lipstick. In the weeks before he died, he added purple boots with three-inch heels.
    Classmates at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, Calif., mocked his makeup and slung anti-gay slurs at him in the halls. Sometimes, the words transformed the expressive teenager into a wallflower.
    Still, rumor spread that King, openly gay, was trying to find the courage to ask another student, Brandon McInerney, to be his valentine. On Feb. 12, McInerney allegedly approached King in a computer lab and shot him in the head. King, 15, died two days later.
    The crime — for which McInerney, 14, has been charged as an adult — horrified parents, educators and students in the community and across the nation. But according to gay rights groups and experts on adolescent sexuality, it is the extreme consequence of a growing but oftenignored phenomenon.
    Reassured by changing pop culture and easy access to information on the Internet, the age of sexual identification has dropped over the last few decades to the early teens and as young as 10, experts say.
    “For years, representations of homosexuals were deviant, bleak, living outside the margins of society. There were no happy endings. Now, we have Ellen DeGeneres hosting the Academy Awards and RuPaul on the Home Shopping Network,” said Caitlin Ryan, a San Francisco State University clinical social worker and director of the Family Acceptance Project there.
    “So, it’s no surprise that young people would realize who they are at earlier ages,” Ryan said.
    But many schools do not have programs that promote tolerance among students, provide training for educators, or include policies that specifically prohibit harassment and bullying based on sexual orientation, activists say.
    There is disagreement on whether even discussing homosexuality in schools is appropriate.
    “The vast majority of parents believe it’s their role and their responsibility to teach their kids about sexuality,” said Bill Maier, vice president and resident psychologist for Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization. “The way you handle the problem is that you crack down on any sort of bullying or aggression on any child. You don’t single out sexual orientation as this somehow special status.”
    Clubs for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual students, such as Gay-Straight Alliances, are widespread in high schools and colleges. In California, for instance, about 650 high schools support GSAs, compared with 14 middle schools.
    But in the weeks since King’s death, interest among middle schools in these organizations has spiked, according to Carolyn Laub, executive director of the San Francisco-based Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
    A minority of states have passed anti-bullying laws that specifically mention sexual orientation. Others are considering it. Some cities have confronted the problem, too. In New York, about 1,000 educators are training with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to address bullying and harassment.

HERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR UNIFORMS----FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.......

are girls allowed to shoot those guys who spew cat calls whistles and write phone numbers and 'poems' on bathroom walls????????

I say go for it girls.......

where was planned parenthood on this one????