Archive for February, 2006
…and on to The House floor
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 21st, 2006
Stay tuned for status update.
Anti-bullying resolution in the House Health & Human Services Committee on tomorrow (Friday).
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 16th, 2006
The anti-bullying resolution will be addressed in the House Health & Human Services Committee tomorrow (Friday). The meeting begins at 4:30.
Please ask the following committee members to support this important resolution.
blast@utah.gov - Brad Last
dgreggbuxton@comcast.net - Gregg Buxton
blockhart@utah.gov - Rebecca Lockhart
steven_mascaro@comcast.net - Steve Mascaro
patjones@utah.gov - Pat Jones
dlitvack@utah.gov - David LitvackYou may also cut and paste the emails below into some e-mail clients.
dlitvack@utah.gov,blast@utah.gov,dgreggbuxton@comcast.net,blockhart@utah.gov, steven_mascaro@comcast.net, patjones@utah.gov
Anti-bullying Resolution Passed Full Senate Unanimously!
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 16th, 2006
Again, congratulations to everybody and thank you! But we cannot rest yet. The House may be a tough fight.
Check back here for updates.
In the meantime please continue to register your support for this resolution.
Getting Bullied? Join a Gang
Posted by lomasnarnelve in Uncategorized on February 6th, 2006
Robert Kirby reveals how he took care of the neighborhood bully.
Kirby:There’s only one gang where membership has all the privileges
“The purpose of the Rangers was protection from Elwood Street’s resident bully. Howard was nearly 12 but still in the fourth grade. He enjoyed waylaying kids walking home alone. “
Resolution Passed! State Board of Ed Comes Through in Final Minutes
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 3rd, 2006
Thank you to everyone who has worked to get this resolution to this point!
Vern Larsen brought us great news just minutes just before the resolution was brought up in the Senate Education Committee, that The State Board of Education had voted unanimously to support the resolution.
ALL Children Have The Right to Feel Safe at School.
It is OUR job to protect their rights!
Senator-D Patrice Arent and Rep-R Ronda Menlove are COOL! Reed Cowan gave another dramatic testimony including the unbelievable news that just hours earlier a teen was caught with a .45 caliber handgun at Union High in Roosevelt, the very same school where Reed was bullied for the balance of his 12 years in rural public schools.
Listen to audio of the Senate Education Committee hearing
This will be a tough fight in the House. We MUST continue to speak out!
Last Day to Sign Petition Before Senate Hearing
Posted by lomasnarnelve in Bullies on February 2nd, 2006
ALL Children Have the Right to Feel Safe at School!
360 names and counting. Please send the petition around to all your friends.
Please register your support for this resolution.
Join us at the The Senate Education Subcommittee Hearing.
(2 p.m. today Capitol Complex West Building)
Add your name and/or organization to the list of people who encourage our legislators to sign this resolution.
You may also email your Letter of Support to:
Senator Patrice Arent patricearent@utahsenate.org
Cliff Lyon cliff@mybully.org
David L. Thomas, Chair (R) Dist.18 dthomas@co.summit.ut.us
D. Chris Buttars (R) Dist.10 dcbuttars@utahsenate.org
Dan R. Eastman(R) Dist.23 deastman@utahsenate.org
Mark B. Madsen(R) Dist.13 mmadsen@utahsenate.org
Howard A. Stephenson (R) hstephenson@utahsenate.org
Patrice Arent (D) Dist.4 parent@utah.gov
Karen Hale (D) Dist.7 khale@utahsenate.org
Who Supports The Resolution ???
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 2nd, 2006
So far…
Governor Huntsman
The First Lady
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
The Utah Education Assoc. (UEA)
State Board of Education
The State Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
The Human Rights Education Center of Utah
The Jordan Board of Education
Salt Lake City School District Chair Peggy Jo Kennet, “We support the resolution.”
Superintendent Mikell Withers, “I support the concept”
NCCJ
NAACP
Pending
Granite Board of Education (Meeting February 7)
Salt Lake City School Board
Bullies at Union High Drive Victim to Act of Desperation
KSL Report “Student Brings Gun to High School in Rooseveltâ€
February 3, 2006
Quoted from the KSL article:
“The teen told Mckenna he was being bullied and needed a gun for protection. But he refused to give details. On Tuesday he also told his friends he had problems.
Henry McKenna: “He was very depressed, very angry about certain things that we’re not sure.”
Eric Dongaard, Student, Union High School: “All I heard was that a kid brought a gun to school because he was getting made fun of at class with a bunch of kids, and got sick of it and brought it to school.”
Since Columbine, a great deal of research has been done. Most interesting was the 2m Secret Service study which concluded that 75% of school shooters were bullied or harassed at school. This is not about gun laws or “pat downsâ€.
Coincidentally, only an hour before this story broke, a graduate of Union High testified at a Utah Senate hearing on an anti-bullying resolution during which testimony he described being severely bullied at Union High and the fact that NOTHING was ever done about it.
These are our rural Utah schools, and this is the fourth or 5th such incident in Utah in the past year. Approximatley 250 parents expressed concern in comments on the KSL website after the 3-part series on schoolyard bullying in February 2005.
This problem IS solvable. And the results brings with them, improved grades, and reduced alcohol and drug abuse.
Bullying is a pervasive problem in many schools, and as reflected by the fact that no one commented on that part of the story, I think reflects our myopia toward bullying.
Chances are, the kid with the gun was a pretty gentle kid at wits end, if not scared for his life. The bad kids were the one’s that nearly drove him to an act of desperation.
If you don’t think bullying is a problem just ask your kids. Even then, you will detect a note of resignation or complacency. That’s how bad it is. Kids accept it, teachers accept it, and parents too, unless it’s their kids getting bullied.
The truth is many acts of bullying would be convictable offences if perpetrated by an adult.
Kids have the right to feel safe at school, and it is our responsibility to protect that right.
Studies have shown that the great majority of school violence is the result of bullying.
It is possible to completely eradicate bullying in schools. Its being done in other countries, and its not that expensive. It mostly takes will and commitment on the part of faculty, staff, and parents. When good kids trust teachers to enforce justice and fairness when theirs has been violated, starting in kindergarten, they will stand up to bullies and support their friends in doing so…and the bullies become the protectors celebrated for their courage.
Safe Schools/anti-bullying resolution introduced today!
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on February 1st, 2006
Senator Patrice Arent-D has authored an anti-bullying resolution co-sponsored by Representative Ronda Menlove-R, which will be introduced in this session!
Register your URGENT support for this resolution NOW!
This is a great thing because recent studies have shown that feeling safe at school may in fact be the single best way to not only increase student grades, but also reduce crime.
Kids deserve to feel safe at school, and it is the responsibility of our legislators to protect our kids.
After Colombine, Colorado led the way with a slew of studies that found some very interesting things. Fact is, bullying begins in kindergarten and it not an urban thing. After a Secret Service study showed that 75% of school shooters were harrassed at school, the research (read money) picked up.
WaPo article says it all.
Even the American Medical Association is SCREAMING about it!
Since 2001, 23 states have passed anti-bullying legislation. 9 states are considering laws this year. Utah will NOT leave our kids behind!
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