Internationally recognized author & educator for professionals, parents, and kids
bullying
What to Do When a Fake Facebook Page is Created About You
012 years
This article from the Cyberbullying Research Center provides great, detailed information and instructions for kids (and their parents!) on what to do if a fake Facebook profile is created about them. Check it out!
http://cyberbullying.us/blog/help-with-fake-facebook-profile-pages.html
Bullying Runs Deep: Breaking the Code of Silence That Protects Bullies via HuffPost
012 years
by signewhitson
in bullying
HuffingtonPost writer, Michelle Baker, has shared this amazingly honest and deeply touching piece about bullying…by children, by adults, by those most trusted and most able to wound. I was struck by each and every paragraph of her article, but particularly by these words, which I know firsthand to be true from having worked as a therapist with traumatized children and adolescents:
I am always amazed when I hear anyone say that teenagers act out simply “to get attention.” Of course, they do. Children act out because they do need attention: positive, proactive, compassionate, responsive and responsible attention. I am astonished by how many adults don’t do anything because they don’t know what to do or ignore the situation because they don’t want to acknowledge that they might have to change. For a child in crisis whose parents and adult community have not shown the ability to appropriately respond in times of need, radical acts are often the only measures a child has in order to get someone to pay attention and take action.
Please check out: Bullying Runs Deep: Breaking the Code of Silence That Protects Bullies
“That Moment:” A Poem about Bullying, Sweethearts, and Heroes
012 years
by signewhitson
in bullying
I would love for everyone to listen to the attached poem, written and read by ‘apoetaswell.’ “That Moment” is a poem about becoming a hero to someone in need–the exact moment stressed but the anti-bullying organization, Sweethearts & Heroes. According to Sweethearts and Heroes founders Tom Murphy and Jason Spector, peers only intervene in bullying situations 10% of the time, but when a peer (or what they call a Hero) intervenes within 10-seconds (That Moment), they are successful 60% of the time.
My favorite line:
HOPE: Hold On, Possibilities Exist
Click on the link below to listen:
Team Up to Stop Bullying
012 years
by signewhitson
in bullying
In fun professional news, I was asked to join Sears’ brand new campaign–the first major anti-bullying portal site designed to connect children, students, families, educators and communities with hundreds of bullying solutions.
Please visit sears.com/teamup to take the Power Pledge and show your support for Team Up to Stop Bullying. The full web site will have hundreds of bullying solutions and will officially launch the first week of August.
Enter to Win a Free Copy of Friendship & Other Weapons
012 years
Enter to win a free, signed copy of Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young Girls Cope With Bullying. Click here or on the link below to visit Mom Does Reviews for drawing rules and your chance to win. While you’re there, check out all of the nice things this reviewer had to say about my book 🙂
If you are interested in receiving a review copy of Friendship & Other Weapons or How to Be Angry: An Assertive Anger Expression Group Guide for Kids and Teens, please email me at Signe@signewhitson.com
When it Comes to Bullying, Real Change Happens Person to Person & Heart to Heart
012 years
This is a great story about how small, simple, structured programs in schools can make a HUGE differences in the lives of kids. I love this one especially because it demonstrates that the lives of the “buddies” are bettered just as much as the lives of the special needs kids they are partnered with.
We don’t need complicated, costly ways to stop bullying…the best programs are the ones that encourage change person to person & heart to heart.
Highlights from an Interview with Trudy Ludwig
013 years
Check out these great excerpts from a recent interview about bullying with bestselling children’s author, Trudy Ludwig. She is the author of My Secret Bully, which I recommend most highly and center one of my chapters around in Friendship & Other Weapons.
http://www.naturallyeducational.com/2012/05/my-secret-bully/
I especially love the definitions of rude vs. mean vs. bullying and her highlighting of issues such as the power of allies and the importance of restorative justice.
What Parents Can Do About Cyberbullying
013 years
A good friend just let me know that last week, this article that I wrote for the Huffington Post was featured on AOL’s home page–very exciting! I hope it provides some helpful tips and strategies for parents, as they help a very tech-savvy generation become bully-savvy as well. Here’s an excerpt:
At not-quite-nine, I am still amazed everyday at how natural and intuitive technology usage is to my daughter and to all of her peers who have grown up with computers, cell phones, tablets and texting as part of their everyday lives. I am also aware, however, that things like Internet Safety, Cyberbullying and “Netiquette” may not register on her radar the same way they do on mine.
When she was very young, I worried about the unknown: online predators who could try to trick her into revealing personal information so that they could cause her physical harm. Now, in her tween years, I know that “stranger danger” is still a threat, but I spend more of my time worrying about the known: frenemies from her daily life who may use taunting texts, humiliating social media posts and viral videos to cause her emotional harm. It’s no wonder that when she begs me (at least once daily) for a cell phone, I feel chills run up and down my spine.
No matter how tech-savvy my daughter becomes, I am constantly aware that she is young and that it is up to me to monitor her safety and well-being with technology in the same consistent, diligent way that I ensure her well-being on a playground. These basic rules are our first line of defense in minimizing (I’m too wise to think that “preventing” is realistic) cyberbullying and using technology in safe, respectful ways:
To read about the six strategies I suggest to parents, please visit the HuffingtonPost or click this link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/signe-whitson/cyberbullying_b_1462459.html
Stop Bullying Workshops and Book Signing at Barnes & Noble
013 years
by signewhitson
in bullying
Had a lot of fun posing as a bestselling author yesterday! Special thanks to the parents and awesome kids who stopped by to participate in my Stop Bullying Workshops and book signing!
Talking about Bullying on the Kathleen Dunn Show
013 years
This morning, I had the great opportunity to join Public Radio host, Kathleen Dunn, and US Dept. of Education representative, Deborah Tempkin for an hour to talk about what parents, schools, and peers can do to stop bullying and cyber-bullying. While I much prefer being a writer…and being able to liberally revise my responses until I find just the right words…I did love the interaction with Kathleen and Deborah and with the callers who phoned, emailed, and tweeted their questions to the show. It was a lively discussion, sparked by the recent bullying-related suicide of a young man from Sioux City, Iowa.
Have a listen: http://wpr.org/wcast/download-mp3-request.cfm?mp3file=dun120424d.mp3&iNoteID=154970
The one thing I’ve been kicking myself about all day is my response to the two callers who talked about physical retaliations as being the best answer to the problem of bullying. I found myself a little tongue-tied during both conversations. The point I wanted to make–and that I do make when I have the luxury of writing on the subject instead of answering on-air–is that while physical retaliations may seem to solve the problem in the moment, they are not the mark of a civilized society and are never the kind of skill that best serve children in the long-term. I do believe with all of my heart that children need skills to know how to stand up for themselves, but never do I believe that revenge–particularly physical aggression–is an advisable response.