The Richard Paul Blog

I have read many cases of students writing blogs and creating web sites that are degrading to teachers and school administrators. Being that they have not singled out a specific person the Federal Courts declare it “Free Speech.”

Many of the cases the schools suspended the students and tried to ban them from school activities but the court ruled against it. In fact many students and parents have filed law suites against the districts.

Do you agree with this?
Do you think we are telling are students it is ok to Cyber Bully the Teacher?
What do you think needs to be done to change things?

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Funding Available to Support Arts Education

Crayola, in partnership with NAESP’s National Principals Resource Center, will award up to 20 schools with mini-grants valued at $3,000 to help strengthen their arts education programs. The mini-grant program, “Champion Creatively-Alive Children,” will fund each project with a $2,500 monetary grant and $500 worth of Crayola products.

The mini-grant program aims to help educators implement and document innovative arts education projects to share best practices and inventive approaches to nurturing creatively alive children. As evidenced in our arts-themed issue of Principal magazine, integrating the arts into the school curriculum develops the whole child. In order to reach their full potential and grow into self-motivated learners, children’s natural curiosity and explorative spirits must be nurtured. However, diminishing school budgets often lead to arts education being among the first programs to be reduced or cut altogether.

Application materials and more details about the program are now available online. The deadline to apply is Aug. 15, 2010.

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There was a time where bullying was only took place in school or to and from school. Today young people are using their computers and smart phones to tell lies and be mean to others. They put up embarrassing videos, pictures, statements, recordings, text messages intended to hurt specific students in the school. Cyber Bullying can take place anytime and any place.

 They think they will never be caught……

 Cyberbullies think that they will never be found out they create fake screen name or hide their name and phone number. The truth is they can be caught and in some cases be in big trouble with local and federal law enforcement. According to Judge Tom Jacobs in his book, “Teen Cyberbullying Investigated” he writes that “The cyberbullying epidemic has the attention of state legislatures, the federal government and countries across the globe. Cities and towns are also addressing the problem by passing laws about electronic harassment.”

 What can you do to stop the cyberbullying?

 What can the Target of a bully do if they are being harassed with embarrassing pictures and or statements put up on Facebook, Twitter or a website? You have the power to put an end to cyberbullies harassments because every social networking site and website has rules, regulations and places to report inappropriate behavior. They will shut them down or ban them from the social networking site altogether.

 Here is how you can stop the on line bullying:

 1)      Make copies of everything with date, times and any other information you can find. 

2)      Tell a trusted adult (parent, uncle, grandparent, teacher, pastor, babysitter etc)

3)      Talk to someone who knows how to figure out where a message is coming from. (most good IT people can figure it out quickly)

4)      If it is a life threatening message you need to contact the police right away for your safety and the safety of the school.

5)      YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  There are laws, rules and people willing to help if you just ask them and tell them what is going on.

 Copyright Richard Paul 2010

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As you have read on this blog there are many kids who have been bullied both in and outside of school. It used to be that the bullies would even tease and torment targets on the way home from school but today they have the capability of bullying anytime anywhere, thanks to smart phones and the many social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

When the bully takes his hurtful tasks to the internet or on the cell phone in the form of a text he is Cyber bullying. You can’t see their faces or hear their voices but they are still there. This kind of bullying can be anything from saying a person is ugly to sharing mean videos or pictures about them. Many students have shared that they have been cyber bullied. It is a big problem but the good news is that federal and local authorities are passing laws and creating new technologies that help them find out who the bully is arrest and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.

What can you do now to stand up to Cyber bullying?

Don’t react.  It may be tempting to say something back but if you respond you are playing right into the bully’s hands. That is what he wants you to do. I would instead go by the rule that silence is louder than words and in time he will mess up and be caught.

Record what they are saying about you.  Thanks to our computer printers you can print out everything on your Facebook and Twitter pages. You can even sent text messages to your email to print out too. Each of these messages will be dated and in most cases have the bullies email, name or number right on it. So that’s all you have to do is print it out and keep it as a record to help you report their actions.

Tell an adult!  I beg you not to tell your friends or even forward the message to others. If you do this you are once again playing into the bullies hands. That is what he wants you to do. He wants you to show weakness.  You need to show him that you are strong and you are not going to take it. By telling an adult and showing them your paper trail you are taking action to put an end to the problem.

The adult can be a family member, teacher or guidance counselor and they will support and help you deal with the problem.

No one has the right to hurt you in anyway you are a great person and don’t let anyone make you believe that you are not.

Please comment and feel free to share this with your friends…

Copyright Richard Paul 2010

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