Internationally recognized author & educator for professionals, parents, and kids
bullying
What Parents Need to Know to Protect Kids From Bullying
3914 years
According to the American Justice Department, one out of every four children is bullied. Studies show that those statistics leap for homosexual youth, who are bullied at an alarming four times the rate of heterosexual youth. What’s more, 85% of children with disabilities are regular victims of social exclusion and verbal and physical abuse by their peers. It doesn’t take a statistician or a news reporter to make clear that bullying is an epidemic among today’s children and youth.
What is it that affords resilience to some young people while others are driven to self-destruction? It is an important question for parents to ask, since understanding the answer provides clues on how to protect their own children from the life-threatening impact of bullying. (more…)
Odd Girl Out: Newly Revised & Updated
1214 years
I got a great little note in my Inbox today from amazon.com: my pre-ordered copy of Rachel Simmon’s newly revised and updated edition of Odd Girl Out has been shipped! Hooray–SO looking forward to checking out the four new chapters of strategies and insights written directly for girls, their parents, and the professionals who work with them. Simmons is one of the pioneers of shining the light on the complexity, subtly, and often-unimaginable cruelty of bullying among young girls and in my book, one of the most innovative, articulate, and forward-thinking women I know. Can’t wait to read what she has to say in this new version of Odd Girl Out!
Bullying at Summer Camp: 5 Ways Parents Can Help Kids Cope
108114 years
Marlo Thomas and Dr. Joel Haber, author of Bullyproof Your Child for Life: Protect Your Child from Teasing, Taunting and Bullying for Good, offer these 5 tips for helping young people cope with bullying during the not-always-carefree days of summer:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/summer-camp-bullying_b_885536.html
Rosalind Wiseman, The WWE & the NEA
27614 years
I just love a good debate…especially when I get to listen in on a conversation that is so well-stated by Rosalind Wiseman. Check out her most recent article, The Smackdown on Common Sense: How the Anti-Bullying Movement is Hurting Itself, a rebuttal of sorts and follow up to her article about the dubious partnership between the NEA, the Creative Coalition, and the WWE.
The New Partnership Between the WWE and the NEA: I See How It’s Good for the Companies, but How Do the Kids Benefit?
94614 years
This is an interesting & compelling article by Rosalind Wiseman on the partnership between the WWE and the National Education Association. She talks about the irony of the anti-bullying message that the WWE purports to deliver and the political & business agenda that motivates their efforts to become more “family-friendly.”
It is clear how the WWE benefits from a partnership with the NEA. And I even “get” how the NEA thought this partnership might be a good idea. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how kids are supposed to benefit. Isn’t that the group that both say they are aiming to reach? Seems like a whole lot of exploitation to me…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosalind-wiseman/devils-advocacy-the-nea-a_b_876366.html
Seeing Isn’t Believing: Helping Young Girls De-Bunk Media Myths
94214 years
Check out this great video for sharing with daughters and talking about beauty pressures. As adults, we know that seeing isn’t necessarily believing, but it’s amazing (read: sad) how much kids buy in to what they see in the media.
The Breathtaking Cruelty of Formspring: What Every Parent Should Know
86414 years
Read below for bestselling author Rachel Simmons’ (Odd Girl Out, Odd Girl Speaks Out, The Curse of the Good Girl) perspective and very helpful suggestions for talking to young girls about the “breathtakingly cruel” website Formspring:
Formspring: Enabling the Cruelest Form of Bullying with the Greatest of Ease.
48314 years
Having just read the post below, I am still speechless…which is fine because this Mama said it all so well:
http://www.rachelsimmons.com/2011/06/guest-blog-a-mothers-battle-to-get-her-daughter-off-formspring/
I adore her apt description: Formspring is the present-day version of the bathroom stall on steroids, enabling the cruelest form of bullying with the greatest of ease.
Are you aware of the website Formspring? As the mother of 8 and 5-year old girls, I was not…yet…but am so glad to know about it early so that I can do a little early intervention and hopefully prevention.
You know, it’s crazy–I feel like me, and so many other parents and professionals out there, are putting their hearts and souls into helping girls cope with bullying–then a site like this comes along and makes money hand over first with no purpose or objective other than to wreck young girls. Where is the conscience?
Beauty Pressure: Innoculating our Kids
21414 years
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I&w=425&h=349]
The article I posted below reminded me of this film clip from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. I suggest this clip to parents and professionals in my Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum, as a way of teaching young girls about the impact of media messages–sort of an innoculation measure, with the idea that when girls are aware of the media’s intentions, they are better able to resist its negative influences.
I would love to hear your reactions to the video and feedback on how you talk with your kids about media messages and beauty pressure.
Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies
45114 years
I love this post about Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies, by Andrea Owen. “I know I can’t shelter my daughter from seeing and sometimes believing that she needs to be prettier, thinner, firmer, sexier, smoother, younger-looking, etc. But, I can sure as hell tell her from my own mouth that her body is the most perfect thing created, just as it is. That it was meant for kicking ass…”
http://thefeministbreeder.com/guest-post-teaching-our-daughters-to-love-their-bodies/
This is a key lesson in the Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum as well; part of fortifying girls against the pressures of bullying has to do with teaching them to be proud of who they are and the bodies they live in, rather than becoming overwhelmed and swept away by media messages to the contrary.