Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Jennifer Livingston challenged the letter and made a powerful point about where children learn to bully others.
A Marion-raised TV anchor responded to a letter claiming she wasn't "a suitable example," because of her weight. Jennifer Livingston, the anchor for WKBT News 8, the CBS affiliate in La Crosse, WI, was the subject of the harsh letter. "I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years. Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular," read the letter, which the station made public. Read more: Read Letter Criticizing Wisconsin TV Anchor' Weight: What do You Think? The letter, and perhaps more so Livingston's response, has spread across the Internet on news sites and social media with viral speeds. "The truth is I am overweight, you can …
Monday, July 30, 2012
In this week's Parents Talk, we ask parents how they feel about plastic surgery as a solution to bullying.
Ear-pinning, a nose job, chin-altering. Sounds like a plastic surgeon's menu of services, right? Actually, it is. It's also the latest solution to bullying. The Little Baby Face Foundation, a charitable organization providing plastic surgery to children born with facial deformities, has recently stepped up to help children alter their appearance to stave off bullies. Nadia Ilse, 14, had her ears pinned, her nose done and her chin shaved to appear less angular. The teen, who was reportedly bullied by classmates in her Georgia hometown, said she now feels more beautiful and confident as a result of the surgery. If your child was being bullied because of his or her appearance, would you allow them to get plastic surgery? What if the surgery …
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Thanks, Patchers, for getting so involved in our nine sites in Iowa. The comments have been rolling in -- and we love it. Here's some news from Ames, Ankeny, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, Johnston, Marion, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines.
The Patch community includes nine sites in Iowa. Here are some stories from the past week. Our Urbandale local editor, Anne Carothers-Kay, gave us this week's Iowa Patch Poll. The Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., a civil rights leader and Baptist minister, said last year that the gay rights movement was an insult to the civil rights movement and resigned his post at the NAACP last month. Should he have resigned? You can still let us know what you think in this week's Patch Poll. In Cedar Falls, Local Editor Alison Gowans reported that a hearing date has been set for a lawsuit filed against the Iowa Board of Regents in hopes of overturning a decision to close Malcolm Price Laboratory School. The hearing will be Monday, June 18, at 10:30 a.m. at the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Fifth grade students at Eason Elementary School in Waukee take a stand against bullying in a new video recently posted on YouTube.
Fifth graders at Eason Elementary School in Waukee are taking a stand against bullying in a new video recently posted to the popular site YouTube. The video shows how it only takes one person to stand up to a bully. The students created the project in response to seeing the documentary, "Bully." "Just ONE" was posted on April 6 but has already been viewed more than 1,600 times.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
If you or your children have seen bullying in school or online, tell us your story, join in the conversation or ask for advice from our panel.
Bullying, in schools and online, has become a hot-button issue recently, with the suicide of a bullied Iowa teen and the recent release of the documentary Bully, featuring a Sioux Falls boy. The director and the writer of Bully visited Cedar Falls to participate in a panel discussion on bullying, and one of the messages they had for the community was that bullying does not exist in a vacuum. It takes a community conversation to begin to truly address it. That is what this article seeks to do: start a conversation. We're asking for your comments and questions about bullying, and our panelists will respond and offer their insight. Leave your questions and comments below. Some of the members on our panel are: Derek Hannah, Youth Sports …
Monday, April 23, 2012
It's pretty easy to form a consensus against bullying in our schools. But where does the responsibility rest to improve the situation? With parents? With the schools? Or somewhere else?
Kids can be cruel. But how can they be stopped when they go too far, and venture into the realm of bullying? Bullying has been in the news nationally for some time, but this soul searching about abuse at the hands of fellow students and its after-effects has intensified in Iowa over the last few weeks after the suicide of Kenneth James Weishuhn Jr. Weishuhn, 14, of Primghar, reportedly killed himself after he was harassed relentlessly by classmates, online and in person, after he revealed to his peers that he was gay. Still, despite the fact that Weishuhn had been bullied for weeks, the administrators at South O'Brien Community Schools said they were oblivious to most of the incidents, saying that Weishuhn had not reported them. So, …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
According to Mackenzie Sposeto, Waukee's school resource officer, the district's new online bullying reporting system has had 16 reports since it launched Dec. 8.
In December, the Waukee school district released an online reporting tool that allows victims of bullying to remain anonymous when reporting their offenders. Since its launch, Waukee Schools Resource Officer Mackenzie Sposeto says it's been a success with 16 reported incidents of bullying since Dec. 8. "From the first week of December until today we've had 16 reports, primarily from the middle school level — grade six through nine — and one at the high school level," Sposeto said. "I think it's great that they feel it’s a safe outlet where they can report anonymously and not have to give out all this information that could put them back in the spotlight." Sposeto said the reports range from students reporting individual incidents of …
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A new online tool on the Waukee Schools' website now lets students, parents, teachers or other staff members report incidents of bullying.
The Waukee school district released a new online reporting tool Dec. 8 that reinforces its no-exceptions stance on bullying. Whether a victim or a witness, with just a click of a button, students, parents and staff members can let the proper authorities know about incidents that may otherwise have gone unreported. Waukee schools resource officer Mackenzie Sposeto said the online system makes it easier for those to report problems without them feeling guilt or anxiety for doing so. “My hope is for this to be a preventative tool," she said. "Bullying is such a big issue and sometimes kids have a difficult time expressing themselves face to face. Reporting online gives them the option to report anonymously if needed." The online reporting …
Friday, December 2, 2011
Waukee High School students are being encouraged to "pause before they post" on social media as part of a bullying prevention program sponsored by Jostens.
It's as painful as a physical altercation and can often be impossible to recover from. With all the social outlets teens have to communicate these days, cyberbullying has taken the place of the school yard fight. That's why Jostens launched Pause Before You Post, a public service program designed to make students stop and think about what they're sharing electronically before they share it. In a news release, Waukee High School principal Kirk Johnson said students at Waukee High School are being encouraged to participate in the Pause Before You Post program to make smarter decisions when it comes to using social media. “We are committed to helping Waukee High School students, educators and parents understand the importance of preventing …
Bronwyn Threlkeld-Wiegand
6:19 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Regardless of bullying, if a child has a true physical deformity (cleft palate etc) which makes them an oddity or the focal point for negative attention, I support correcting that. I would never support cosmetic surgery to refine ones features based on some ideal that the media has promoted. The school needs to ramp up their anti bullying program and surgeons put down your scalpels. more ›