Update 10/3/04:
(1)
The
next meeting
of the network will be on Tuesday 11/9/04
12:30pm at NJ Law Center. Non-profit organizations
wishing to participate should contact
Stuart Green at 908 522-2581 or you can
click
here to email.
(2)
The
LW case (see 8/20/04
news note,
below) continues to move toward appeal
and review by the courts. Network organizations
will receive word as soon as may be needed
about the possibility of participating
in the develop of an 'amicus' brief.
(3)
The
trend
towards recognizing the importance of
bullying and taking at least some
steps toward addressing it on the parts
of schools and the larger community shows
no sign of abating (yet). An ongoing process
of checking national and international
media (through Google alerts and other
search processes) and the educational,
health and medical literature shows several
broad patterns, including:
(a)
Recognition
of additional social and health effects
of bullying.
One sign of increased recognition is studies
which assess bullying across more child
health conditions (it's fair to say that
the more the issue is looked for, the
more it appears - reflecting reality -
because the issue is so prevalent and
so important). As a small example in my
own recent work: I was asked to give a
talk on bullying at an annual adoption
conference (in NJ), and did a search for
bullying-related literature in the adoption
field. There isn't much (yet), but I've
already found a study which indicates
that bullying is a major reason children
run away from foster care and other placement
settings. As another small example (of
increasing recognition), I'll be giving
a talk on health effects of bullying at
Family Violence Prevention Fund's annual
meeting in Boston, the first talk on bullying
of which I'm aware at this meeting. Other
network members have been deluged with
requests for talks and trainings (I'm
most aware of this for Randy Ross/Office
of Bias Crime and Community Relations
and for Leisa-Anne Smith/NJ Star Bar Foundation,
but I'm sure this applies to the other
major training providers in NJ, such as
Cheryl Mojta of Child Assault Prevention,
and Michael Greene of Youth Consultation
Services) Iin the next revision of the
website, there will be an events and activities
page on which talks and trainings given
by network participants will be listed
and highlighted - there's a lot going
on!)
(b)
More
awareness of the impact of bullying on
adults, both in terms of bullying
which occurs between adults (primarily
workplace but also within other - e.g.,
government/community - domains,
and effects of childhood bullying on adult
life - e.g., post-traumatic effects).
[On this point, broader impact on adult
life has still not become a focus: e.g.,
the way in which exposure to bullying
impacts child self-expression and development
of strengths important to adult functioning,
effects of childhood bullying on shaping
adult relationships and decisions.]
(c)
Increasing
recognition of hazing (although media
still do not use the term 'bullying' in
their reports about hazing, acting as
if the two phenomena were different, a
strategy which results in 'under-noticing'
bullying), and increased reporting of
hazing (bullying, really) occurrences.
(d)
Some
signs
that the larger community (beyond the
schools) is recognizing its responsibility
for the continuance of bullying (in
the schools, and elsewhere). Two examples:
(1)
New
York (city) has just joined the (still
minority) ranks of communities in which
legislation requiring that schools address
bullying has been passed. Such legislation
is typically weak, because sanctions are
typically very mild, or - in ome places
- non-existent. But its passage still
represents an improvement in awareness
and may produce some new outcomes as well.
(2)
Cranford,
NJ (disclaimer: I do work on bullying
in that community, so the example is self-serving,
and I'm obviously more aware of activities
there) has launched a 'Cranford Cares
About Bullying' campaign, related to the
state's Office of Bias Crime and Community
Relations' state campaign, 'NJ Cares About
Bullying', under leadership (in Cranford)
of the Interfaith Clergy Council (10 congregations)
and its Human Relations Committee. The
first public activity of the Cranford
campaign is a 'Sabbath Awareness Weekend'
on Oct. 23-24, the key feature of which
is that leaders of all 10 congregations
will address ullying that weekend in sermons
and through religious education and youth
activity meetings. For more information,
you can contact the town campaign leader,
Rabbi Akiba Lubow, at 908 276-9231, or
the Coalition ( 908 522-2581 or click
here to email Stuart Green). Here
is the town flyer: CCAB
FLYER