But on April 16, Jaheem appeared happy when he came home from school with a glowing report card. It may have been a glimmer of hope for his mother Masika Bermudez that her darling boy may have found peace with the situation. But later that evening, when her calls for him to come to dinner were not answered, she and Jaheem’s sister went up to his bedroom and found his body in a closet hanging by a belt.

This, just weeks after another 11-year-old boy, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, from Massachusetts, took his own life after relentless taunts by his peers.

What most surprised me is that DeKalb County, Georgia has what experts called an “exemplary” anti-bullying program in place that included an awareness program and a specially trained staff member to address the issue. Kids even were asked to sign a no-bullying pledge.

So what went wrong? And what can we, as parents, do to stop our child from bullying or being bullied, since we cannot rely simply on our schools?

Here’s yet another resource, a free Bully Reporting Site powered by www.BullyStoppers.com where parents and students can provide details of bullying situations. And, here is an example what the reports look like. The anonymous bully reporting is designed to help students who suffer from bullying, decrease behaviors that build over time and lead to violent outbursts, create a deterrent effect against bullying in a school or bus, and prevent embarrassing students who report problems.

Will it help? Who knows. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center seems to think that such a system could have prevented many of the countless school shootings over the years. Regardless, a workable solution must be found before another child kills himself.

Photo, Flickr, sarah bara wears mascara

Post from: Blisstree

Suicides Question Anti-Bullying Programs

Oshkosh Teens Speaking Out is a group of local young people from various religious denominations taking a stand against bullying in light of school violence throughout Wisconsin by asking parents to pay more attention to their kids.

The group, which started meeting around the end of October, is finalizing a letter to local parents with instructions on how to be better parents and how to deter their kids from becoming future bullies and perpetuators of school violence.

A sampling of tips for parents from Oshkosh Teens Speaking Out:

Understand that I am not perfect – be patient
Teach me to how to say “NO” – by saying “NO” to me.
Get to my friends and their parents too
Let my dreams be different from yours
Spend time with me and show me you care – listen more than you talk
Family time is worth more to me than a big house, vacations and other stuff
Tell me that you love me

I think these teens are truly onto something.  Having been the victim of bully’s throughout my own high school career, I see the overwhelming need for parents to become more active in their kids lives – and to stop trying to blame everyone else for the ill actions of their kids.

I’d love to hear some of your bully stories and how you’ve learned to combat them on your own.  Whether you’re a kid or a parent, I think it’s important that people learn to stick together and come up with new and inovative ways of tearing down these intimidating walls.

Post from: Blisstree

Youths target parenting to prevent bullying