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Put The Town On Notice: School District Liability And Lgbt Bullying Notification Laws, Yariv Pierce

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Congress could mitigate the problem of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) student bullying by requiring that teachers and school officials report all bullying incidents to their school district administrators. Many school districts are not aware of the prevalence of LGBT bullying and the extent to which each school protects, or fails to protect, its LGBT students compared to other harassed students. LGBT students often encounter difficulty demonstrating that their school district has a policy or custom of deliberate indifference toward their equal treatment when a school does not equally protect an LGBT student from peer-to-peer bullying because of the …

The Wichita Teacher Inquiry Group (Wtig) Lessening Structural, Cultural, Indirect And Direct Forms Of Through Cultural Competence And Transformative Teaching And Learning, Linda F. Rhone, Kimberly Johnson Burkhalter

The Advocate

Bullying at school is an international phenomenon, and as a result there is a need for teachers to understand bullying behavior at its roots and beyond direct (hitting, kicking, choking) and indirect (gossiping, cyberbullying, silencing one’s voice) forms. If we are really going to lessen bullying at school overtime, we must talk about the unmentionable: Bullying at school is larger than one child pushing, hitting or kicking another. Literature suggests it is quite disappointing that to date there has been no significant impact on bullying at school in the United States (Juvonen, Graham, & Schuster, 2003; Berger, 2007). Literature also …

Davis V. Monroe County Board Of Education: Setting A Stringent Standard Of Fault For School Liability In Peer Sexual Harassment Under Title Ix-Demanding Responsible Proactive Protection, Lindsay Havern

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bullying Victimization As A Disability In Public Elementary And Secondary Education, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This article discusses two reasons why likening bullying victimization to an educational disability makes sense. First, face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying impose on student victims the sort of educational deprivation that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) addresses in the disabilities arena. Second, today’s belated public sensitivity to school bullying victims resembles the belated public sensitivity to students with disabilities that led to passage of the IDEA in 1975.

Clarifying The Relationship Between Bullying And Fear Of Victimization: The Contribution Of Collective Efficacy, Karen R. Spence

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of fear of victimization has declined in recent years but remains a prevalent problem among adolescents. Fear has been explained in past literature by three main theories: victimization theory, social integration theory, and social disorganization theory. However, the prediction of fear of victimization can be done more concisely by the contribution of collective efficacy, a concept that combines a community's feelings of social cohesion with a willingness to intervene for the common good. Using data collected from Philadelphia middle schools in 1993-1994, this study tested the direct and interacting effects of bullying and collective efficacy on fear of …

Bullying Victimization As A Disability In Public Elementary And Secondary Education, Douglas E. Abrams

Missouri Law Review

As Jamey entered Williamsville North, his life was torn between outward signs of emotional strength and inner impulses toward personal despair. In May of 2011, he used his webcam to produce and post online his video for the "It Gets Better Project," which seeks to fortify students who are bullied because of perceptions about their sexual orientation. The project's perspective is that the sting of childhood and adolescent bullying fades with the passage of time. "All you have to do is hold your head up and you'll go far," Jamey spoke directly into the camera, "Just love yourself and you're …

Victim-Blaming: A New Term For An Old Trend, Julia Churchill Schoellkopf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Victim-blaming is a phenomenon that has been happening since at least the beginning of recorded history but has only recently been identified as a dynamic used to empower the criminal and maintain the status quo. Victim-blaming is perpetuated by sexism, the Just World Theory, cognitive biases, and the theories of self-blame. Victim-blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or abuse is held partly or entirely responsible for the actions committed against them. In other words, the victims are held accountable for the maltreatment they have been subjected to. Perpetrators of crimes for which they blame the victim commonly enjoy …

Pre-Teen Alcohol Use As A Risk Factor For Victimization And Perpetration Of Bullying Among Middle And High School Students In Georgia, Monica Swahn, Volkan Topalli, Bina Ali, Sheryl Strasser, Jeffrey Ashby, Joel Meyers

Monica H. Swahn

Objective: We examined the association between pre-teen alcohol use initiation and the victimization and perpetration of bullying among middle and high school students in Georgia.

Methods: We computed analyses using data from the 2006 Georgia Student Health Survey (N=175,311) of students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. The current analyses were limited to students in grades 8, 10 and 12 (n=122,434). We used multilogistic regression analyses to determine the associations between early alcohol use and reports of both victimization and perpetration of bullying, perpetration only, victimization only, and neither victimization or perpetration, while controlling for demographic characteristics, other substance …

Youth Violence In Harrison County, Mississippi, Ashley Rushing

Honors Theses

Youth violence plagues school communities and has traumatic effects on students, families, and communities (Affonso, Mayberry, Shibuya, Archambeau, Correa, Deliramich, & Frueh, 2010). Even though the rate of crime has declined, children have continued to increase the rates of violent acts (Funk, Elliot, Bechtoldt, Pasold, & Tsavoussis, 2003). Today, violent behaviors are being exhibited at an earlier age than ever before. Tragedies stemmed from youth violence occur almost daily in the United States. Between 1986 and 1991, slayings committed by teenagers, who had shown bullying tendencies as children, rose 124 percent. In 1992, 3,400 people were killed nationwide by teen …

An Anti-Bullying Program In Review, Jane M. Vega

Professional Projects

This project will focus on one parochial Catholic elementary (K4-8) school that implemented the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) over four years ago. This qualitative research examines the impact that support or lack of support had on the program outcomes. The study will provide research on the OBPP along with various, alternative anti-bullying programs, efficacy of the anti-bullying program, and review the school community awareness of the OBPP. The research participants are administrators, faculty, staff, parents and community’s members who directly affect the Olweus Bullying Prevention program.

An Overview Of State Anti-Bullying Legislation And Other Related Laws, Katharine B. Silbaugh, Dena Sacco, Felipe Corredor, June Casey, David Doherty

Faculty Scholarship

As a part of its collaboration with the Born This Way Foundation, the Berkman Center is publishing a series of papers that synthesize existing peer-reviewed research or equivalent scholarship and provide research-grounded insight to the variety of stakeholders working on issues related to youth empowerment and action towards creating a kinder, braver world. This series, called the The Kinder & Braver World Project: Research Series (Danah Boyd and John Palfrey, editors), is presented by the Born This Way Foundation & the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and supported by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur …

Aristotle's Internet: Free Speech Values Online, Ari E. Waldman

Ari E Waldman

While the Internet has changed dramatically since the early 1990s, the legal regime governing online speech and liability is still steeped in an early myth of the Internet user, completely hidden from othes, in total control of his online experience, and free to come and go as he pleases. This false image of the “virtual self” has also contributed to an ethos of lawlessness, irresponsibility and radical individuation online, allowing hate and harassment to run wild. I argue that the myth of the online anonym is not only false as a matter of technology, but also inaccurate – it does …

Exploring The First Amendment Rights Of Teens In Relationship To Sexting And Censorship, Julia Halloran Mclaughlin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article explores child pornography law in relation to teen sexting conduct. Recently, some teens who engaged in teen sexting have been convicted under child pornography laws and have been required to register as sexual predators. The criminalization of teens for developmentally typical behavior, mimicking the conduct of adults, can result in grave harm to most teens. Furthermore, the application of child pornography laws to teen sexting conduct demonstrates the constitutional overbreadth of the current definition of child pornography. Photographs have an emblematic role in society-capturing and celebrating youth. Moreover, the creation of teen sexting images accompanies a teen's developmental …

Identifying Potential Mediators And Moderators Of The Association Be-Tween Child Maltreatment And Bullying Perpetration And Victimization In School, Jun Sung Hong, Dorothy L. Espelage, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, Paula Allen-Meares

Social Work Faculty Publications

A growing body of literature is demonstrating associations between childhood maltreatment and bullying involvement at school. In this literature review, five potential mediators (explanatory) and three potential moderators (mitigates or exacerbates) of the association between childhood maltreatment and school bullying are proposed. Mediators include emotional dysregulation, depression, anger, and social skills deficits. Moderators reviewed include quality of parent-child relationships, peer relationships, and teacher relationships. Although there might be insurmountable challenges to addressing child maltreatment in primary or universal school-based prevention programs, it is possible to intervene to improve these potentially mediating and moderating factors.

Bully/Victim Power Inventory: Measuring The Power Imbalance In The Bully/Victim Relationship, Marybeth Plonkey-Lehto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The empirical study of the power imbalance in the bully/victim relationship has impeded research synthesis, and the need for a quantitative measure of this key component has been well established in the literature. Lack of differentiation between victimization with and without power imbalance has been cited as a possible cause for imprecise measurement. Increased precision in bully victimization measurement is needed to accurately inform research investigating psychosocial health, treatment and positive outcomes, in addition to prevention and intervention programs. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was the initial development and validation of the Bully/Victim Power Inventory aimed at differentiating perceived …

Problem Behaviours, Traditional Bullying And Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Longitudinal Analyses, Leanne Lester, Donna Cross, Therese Shaw

Research outputs 2012

Problem Behaviour Theory suggests that young people's problem behaviours tend to cluster. This study examined the relationship between traditional bullying, cyberbullying and engagement in problem behaviours using longitudinal data from approximately 1500 students. Levels of traditional victimisation and perpetration at the beginning of secondary school (grade 8, age 12) predicted levels of engagement in problem behaviours at the end of grade 9 (age 14). Levels of victimisation and perpetration were found to moderate each other's associations with engagement in problem behaviours. Cyberbullying did not represent an independent risk factor over and above levels of traditional victimisation and perpetration for higher …

Hostile Educational Environments, Ari Ezra Waldman

Articles & Chapters

This Article is one in a series about bullying and cyberbullying in schools. I argue that the proper analysis for a First Amendment challenge to school discipline for off-campus misuse of the Internet to harm or harass a member of the school community based on the victim’s identity depends on the nature of the offending behavior. For students who are punished for a single incident – what I will call cyberattacking – a Tinker analysis makes sense. But, given that Tinker’s “substantial disruption” standard originated in the context of student protests and that targeted identity-based harassment can create substantial disruptions …

Tormented: Antigay Bullying In Schools, Ari Ezra Waldman

Articles & Chapters

This Article begins a theoretical and empirical discussion on bullying and cyberharassment of all students, but particularly gay and lesbian youth. Despite the recent spate of bullying-related suicides, I argue that antibullying proposals that include harsh criminal punishments for egregious cases of bullying and cyberbullying in schools lack validity as a matter of legal theory and practice. In fact, it is what makes criminalization so initially attractive — that is, the public’s emotional and retributive need for punishments equal to bullying tragedies — that ultimately leaves the proposal devoid of reason. Criminalization proposals only satisfy retributive aims and are unlikely …

All Those Like You: Identity Aggression And Student Speech, Ari Ezra Waldman

Articles & Chapters

Online and face-to-face harassment in schools requires a coordinated response from the school, parents, students, and government. In this Article, I address a particular subset of online and face-to-face harassment, or identity-based harassment. Identity-based aggressors highlight a quality intrinsic to someone’s personhood and demean it, deprive it of value, and use it as a weapon. They attack women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and other traditionally victimized groups. And, as such, they attack not only their particular victims but also their victims’ communities. Identity-based aggressors com- mit a constitutional evil not only because their behavior interferes with victims’ access to education, …

Respectful And Responsible Relationships: There’S No App For That (The Report Of The Nova Scotia Task Force On Bullying And Cyberbullying), A. Wayne Mackay

Reports & Public Policy Documents

Chairing this Task Force and producing this report has been both the most engaging and exhausting project that I have ever undertaken. Since my appointment in late May 2011, I have lived and breathed in the world of bullying and cyberbullying. I am sure my fellow Task Force members and members of the Working Group did the same. Born in the wake of tragic teen suicides it was easy for the members of the Task Force to be motivated. Indeed, few ventures have stirred my passions as much as this exercise has.

Bullying is a major social issue throughout the …