Category Archives: Accountability

Movie May Encourage Bullies 4

Accountability, Bullying, Bystanders, Movies, Parenting, Principals • Tags: , , ,

I am watching Cyberbully, but I cannot help but wonder if it will cause harm instead of helping.  I hope not, but other movies and shows actually contributed to the bullying problem.  I know from talking to other parents that too many are clueless as to what their children do online. We have friends who have no clue about Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites.

There are parents like Lindsey’s father in the movie who also believe their child has the “right” to harass others online. It really upsets me that this character is an attorney.  An attorney should know that harassment is against the law in all fifty states even the ones without specific bullying laws. Hawaii is one of the states without a bullying law, but our harassment law does offer some protection against cyberbullying. The principal’s excuse that the school has no responsibility does not hold true in most states anymore either especially when the child is being openly harassed at school in relation to the Internet posting.  

I hope others watched until the end at least!  They finally show the power of bystanders at the end of the movie.  I wish they has focused on this throughout the movie.  I hope this is the message that sticks!  

Did you watch?  What did you think? 

Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act Needed or Not? 7

Accountability, Bullying • Tags: , ,

Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about the law itself; however, I do think that the laws currently on the books in most states need to be enforced by the schools and local governments.  This legislation is currently before congress.  There have been posts about it all over the Internet the last three weeks.  Some even imply that if it passes freedom of speech will be a risk.  I have not been able to find the exact wording of the legislation, so I cannot comment on whether this is truly the case.  I will say that I honestly do not believe that our ancestors envisioned our current world when the original Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791.  FYI, even then there were people who were not protected, i.e. slaves, women, those who did not own property.  Therefore, I am not sure that using freedom of speech as an argument to avoid protecting a group of people is valid.

Purchased from Dreamstime.com for Royality-free use. © Stephen Coburn/ Dreamstime.com

My understanding of this legislation is that it applies to places of higher education; therefore, it will not protect high school students or anyone in middle school.  I do believe if our current laws are enforced most states already provide laws to protect our children.  I would have thought these same laws would protect college students in state funded schools, but I may be wrong.  I also refer you back to my previous post, Accountability for Protecting Our Children, which I wrote on October 22, 2010 for more about protecting our children.

I would love to know what you think about this legislation or any other legislation that may be pending in your home state.  Do we need more laws or do we just need to enforce the current laws?  Is being mean protected under freedom of speech laws?  I do not believe it is.  If it is, should it be?

Bullying in the Aloha State

Accountability, Bullying, Forgiveness, Parenting, Principals, Schools, Teachers • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Lanai from hotel roomWhen my children were younger we read a story book about the Aloha Bear which taught that aloha means hello, goodbye, and love. People also use it to mean peace, compassion, and mercy. Yet, even in Hawaii, we have a bullying problem that isn’t going away. Those who have been reading my blog know this affected my family directly a few years ago.

Hawaii is one of the few states without legislation specifically aimed at bullying, yet the problem is no longer being ignored. The harassment law was amended last year to allow for prosecution of technology related bullying. State leaders are working on ways to curb the bullying. The news media has also been giving it more attention this year. See the following for more information: Cyber bullying affects 1 in 2 Hawaii teens – Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL Home. 

It is time to educate the parents as to their responsibility. For more information about this see my accountability post: Accountability for Protecting Our Children | dswalkerauthor.

A parent’s primary job is to teach their child right from wrong and to protect them from harm. Protect your child no matter what anyone at the school or anywhere else tells you. Protect them by legal means please! Work with me to change the system.

Unfortunately, you will probably also have to help your child learn to forgive so they can completely heal. Becoming the bully is not an option. Becoming an advocate is. It is truly time to change the school climate to one of tolerance and acceptance of differences. I hope some of you will be brave enough to publicly agree with me by commenting here.

Addendum: Hawaii’s anti-bullying law became effective in 2011. However, it excludes over 150 private schools. You can find more posts about bullying by clicking on more supportive schools from the menu or entering bullying in the search area.

Learning Empathy and Tolerance for Others While Helping Our Children 1

Accountability, Education, Empathy, Parenting, Tolerence • Tags: , ,
Photographed at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Photographed at Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

We all have to support each other and try harder to be empathic. It is not always easy to do, and this is especially true when we perceive an attack on our children. The grizzly bear or lioness comes out for me then.  I usually just avoid posting when this happens, because I know I will say something I will regret later otherwise.

Does this mean I always do the right thing?  I only wish this were true.  I too have been guilty of saying the wrong thing, as I think most people have.  I just hope anyone I have ever offended in any way has it in their hearts to forgive me.

It certainly brings home the issue of children bullying others over the Internet. That is why it is so important that we as parents teach our children that the Internet is forever.  They need to understand that it can’t just be torn up or erased.  It is the job of parents and educators to teach this to our children.

My son’s school has a wonderful class that they teach to the sixth graders called Technology.  It is not a quick one time class.  Rather, the class meets daily all year. They learn how to safely navigate the Internet, applicable laws that apply to information on the Internet, as well as, how wrong it is to cyber bully someone. They are learning that they are held accountable for their actions on the Internet.  I think it would be great if every school did this, although given the precociousness of today’s kids, it might need to be done at an earlier age.  Maybe we all need a class like this too!

Mahalo again for listening,

D. S. Walker