When Your Child Becomes a Victim of Bullying

We want all schools to be bully-free zones, but that is easier said than done. In Indiana, state law requires school staff to complete training annually about bullying. The purpose is to understand what bullying is, what signs to look for, how to identify bullying, and how to report incidents of bullying. Furthermore, students in Indiana participate in bullying programming annually. Even with all of this prevention, bullying still occurs.

Bullying is repeated actions or behavior that is unwanted by the recipient. Schools are tasked with making sure students understand the difference between being bullied or dealing with an unpleasant interaction. For example, if a child is called a name during a game at recess, but is never called a name again by that student, that is not bullying. If a child is called a name every day at school by the same student, that is bullying, and it needs to be reported.

Read more:  https://indy.education/2019/09/25/when-your-child-becomes-a-victim-of-bullying/

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Back to School Safety Checklist

As summer draws to a close and children start heading back to school, family life can get pretty hectic. It’s important to remember – and share with your children – some key tips that will help keep them safe and healthy throughout the school year.

Written by the National Safety Council at www.nsc.org

 

Transportation Safety

Whether children walk, ride their bicycle or take the bus to school, it is extremely important that they take proper safety precautions. Here are some tips to make sure your child safely travels to school:

Walkers »Review your family’s walking safety rules and practice walking to school with your child.

  • Walk on the sidewalk, if one is available; when on a street with no sidewalk, walk facing the traffic
  • Before you cross the street, stop and look left, right and left again to see if cars are coming
  • Make eye contact with drivers before crossing and always cross streets at crosswalks or intersections
  • Stay alert and avoid distracted walking

Bike Riders » Teach your child the rules of the road and practice riding the bike route to school with your child.

  • Ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, and in a single file
  • Come to a complete stop before crossing the street; walk bikes across the street
  • Stay alert and avoid distracted riding
  • Make sure your child always wears a properly fitted helmet and bright clothing

Bus Riders » Teach your children school bus safety rules and practice with them.

  • Go to the bus stop with your child to teach them the proper way to get on and off the bus
  • Teach your children to stand 6 feet (or three giant steps) away from the curb
  • If your child must cross the street in front of the bus, teach him or her to walk on the side of the road until they are 10 feet ahead of the bus; your child and the bus driver should always be able to see each other
  • Get the facts on bus safety from Injury Facts

Driving Your Child to School »Stay alert and avoid distracted driving. Put your cell phone down.

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  • Obey school zone speed limits and follow your school’s drop-off procedure
  • Make eye contact with children who are crossing the street
  • Never pass a bus loading or unloading children
  • The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus

Teen Drivers » Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for teens. Fortunately, there is something we can do.

  • Teens crash because they are inexperienced; practice with new drivers every week, before and after they get their license
  • Set a good example; drive the way you want your teen to drive
  • Sign the New Driver Deal, an agreement that helps define expectations for parents and teens

School Safety

Many School-related injuries are completely preventable. Follow these steps to ensure your child’s safety at school.

Backpacks » Choose a backpack for your child carefully; it should have ergonomically designed features to enhance safety and comfort.

  • Ask your children to use both straps when wearing their backpack to evenly distribute the weight on their shoulders
  • Don’t overstuff a backpack; it should weigh no more than 5% to 10% of your child’s body weight
  • Rolling backpacks should be used cautiously since they can create a trip hazard in crowded school hallways

Playgrounds and Sports »

  • To reduce strangulation hazards on playgrounds, have your child leave necklaces and jackets with drawstrings at home
  • A few bumps and bruises can be expected when your child plays sports, but head injuries should never be ignored

Sexual Assault on Campus Strategies for first year students and parents.

We owe it to our sons and daughters to have honest conversations about sexual violence and dating violence. Research repeatedly demonstrates that first-year women students, especially, are at the highest risk of sexual assault. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that much of this occurs within the first few weeks and months of school starting, so some young women are entering their first weeks of classes, already disoriented from a violation, so soon after campus orientation.

Research shows that the majority of sexual assault on campus is perpetrated by a small group of predatory males who are doing this over and over to multiple women.

by: Deborah J. Cohan, Ph.D.

Learn more:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-lights/201709/sexual-assault-campus

New York Today: The City’s Bystander Effect

Good morning on this clear Monday.

The first time I dialed 911 in New York was on a subway platform at 42nd Street — last week.

A woman was bleeding on her head and neck; she had fallen on the stairs between the platform and turnstiles.

Some passengers hurried past her. Others stopped to look and moved on. Several took out their phones — not to call for help, but instead to record the scene.

Maybe you’ve witnessed a similar episode in the city: curious onlookers who hesitate to act or opt not to do anything at all.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com

 


Is there such thing as a digital bystander effect?
CreditJohn Taggart for The New York Times

Virtually all college students experience the effects of college drinking – whether they drink or not.

The problem with college drinking is not necessarily the drinking itself, but the negative consequences that result from excessive drinking.   Each year, drinking affects college students, as well as college communities, and families. The consequences of drinking include: death, assault, sexual abuse, injury, academic problems, health problems/suicide attempts and more.  As reported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the report:  www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol

 

Most Dangerous Colleges

For many college students, their campus becomes a new home. The full hallways of young adults, the blue safety buttons and the ample staff of campus police seem to promise protection at every corner.

But colleges are not, actually, impermeable to the crimes of the real world. Despite extensive safety precautions taken by many schools, crimes do strike campuses.

The Daily Beast reviewed the U.S. Department of Education’s stats for college campuses around the nation and narrowed down the ones that are the most plagued by crime, weighting the data for campus population.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/most-dangerous-colleges/

 

 

Safest College Campuses 2016

 

The 2016 Safest College Campuses ranking is based on key statistics and student reviews. Top ranked colleges offer a safe and healthy environment with little or no campus crime, drugs, and alcohol usage.

See how this ranking was calculated.

 

 

Former Florida A&M students receive probation for hazing death

By Associated Press June 27, 2015 12:26 pm

ORLANDO, Fla. — State Attorney Jeff Ashton wanted to send a harsh message Friday (June 26) during the sentencing hearing of three former members of Florida A&M University Marching Band convicted in the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion.

But Circuit Judge Renee A. Roche, in determining their sentences, had other considerations:

First, she said, Champion willingly participated in the ritual that ended his life that November evening in 2011.

Second, the young men convicted of manslaughter and hazing in April will have to live with felony records for the rest of their lives.

Finally, Roche said, it was important to balance their sentences against the other nine former FAMU band members charged in the case.

Most were given probation.

At the end of the day Friday, so were Aaron Golson, Benjamin McNamee and Darryl Cearnel. All received 10 years’ probation.

“The court recognizes that perhaps Mr. Champion had thoughts or philosophical objections or reservations about this conduct, but there was no evidence of that presented in this case,” Roche said prior to handing down the sentences.

“To the contrary, the evidence was that he went to the bus on his own, that he responded affirmatively when he was asked if he was sure repeatedly, and there was no external pressure for him to participate.”

Ashton asked for the minimum sentence, 9 1/2 years in prison. After the hearing, he would not comment.

Champion, 26, was killed after participating in a ritual known as Crossing Bus C, in which band members hit, kicked and punched him as he made his way down the aisle of a parked charter bus.

Champion’s parents have challenged whether their son voluntarily boarded the bus after performing in the Florida Classic game between FAMU and Bethune-Cookman University.

“There is no real documented proof,” Champion’s mother, Pam, testified in court Friday. “What you’ve heard has been said over and over and over again by the people who killed him. Check your source.”

Roche told the families she reached her decision by also weighing the fact that “the brand of felony on these young men is a substantial punishment that perhaps can never be undone.”

Members of the defendants’ families, who filled the courtroom to offer character statements on behalf of the men, broke into tears after Roche announced that none of them would be going to prison.

“I am just thankful — I am thankful for my son and the other defendants,” said McNamee’s mother, Sharri Dean-Collins. “Of course, I pray for Mrs. Champion and Mr. Champion, that they will continue to find peace. I still want us to join hands and fight [hazing] together because there is so much to be done.”

In January, Roche sentenced the accused ringleader of the ritual, 28-year-old Dante Martin, 6 1/2 years in prison after a jury trial. She gave him a harsher sentence because he orchestrated the event, she said.

Jessie Baskin, another former FAMU band member, was sentenced to nearly a year in jail. The state is appealing that sentence. Baskin has since been released from jail.

Caleb Jackson, who pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge, has not yet been sentenced.