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Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district has become infamous for its policy of "neutrality" regarding LGBT issues — teachers aren't supposed to tell students that gay people deserve equal rights, or that they're not. After two lawsuits and a cluster of student suicides, the district has finally changed the policy. But the new one isn't that much better. More »
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A depressing new study shows that homophobic bullying is common on elementary school campuses. And teachers aren't doing enough to stop it. More »
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A thirteen-year-old girl says she was relentlessly bullied at her Pennsylvania middle school after kids found out she had a yeast infection. Now a judge says she can sue. More »
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We're aware that most children are little monsters (and not in a fun Lady Gaga way), but a group of Florida students have reached a new low. On Friday, a 13-year-old girl took the school bus in Ocala for the first time. No one would let her sit down, so she sat on her sister's lap instead, prompting even more teasing from the students on the bus. Someone threw a shoe at the girl's head, and when she hurled it back a fight broke out. More »
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Fifteen-year-old Amanda Cummings stepped in front of a bus two days after Christmas, suicide note in her pocket. Her family's understandably heartbroken by their loss, but they're even more heartbroken by the response Amanda's death has gotten on the internet. Online forum 4chan, notorious for targeting dead kids for some good, old fashioned, hilarious postmortem bullying, have decided that she's the current object of their impish derision, and Amanda's family doesn't understand why. More »
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This week 15-year-old Amanda Cummings died after jumping in front of a bus on Staten Island with a suicide note in her pocket. Cummings was fairly popular, but her death has highlighted the issue of bullying once again. Her friends and family say she'd been hiding the fact that a group of girls were picking on her, and the harassment is part of what drove her to take her life. More »
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Last month police in Amherst, New York concluded their investigation into the bullying Jamey Rodemeyer suffered before he committed suicide at age 14 in September. They decided not to file charges, but now Williamsville North High School has suspended an unknown number of students. Superintendent Scott Martzloff says the students are facing "a minimum of suspensions," which means they were suspended for a week or less with the possibility of handing out longer suspensions after a hearing. The students are too young to expel, but apparently they've learned a variety of gay slurs in their brief time on the planet. One female student was already suspended in September after she put herself in the running for Most Horrible Teen on the Planet by telling friends of Jamey's sister that she was glad her brother killed himself. More »
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Child bride Courtney Stodden has been speaking out about bullying — after a fashion — for a long time. Now she has more advice for bullying victims. More »
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If you want evidence of how out of control sexual harassment laws have gotten, look no further than the story of a 7-year-old Boston boy who's been accused of sexual assault for kicking a bully in the groin after he choked him and stole his gloves. This ridiculous tale provides a great opportunity to unleash a hearty online rant about the evils of liberalism — unless you stop to consider the facts. More »
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In spite of efforts by big names like Lady Gaga and Dan Savage, teens continue to treat each other like shit. And so the great tradition carries on, as it did during my high school career and the high school careers of the women who came before me: bullies' preferred method of making girls feel bad about themselves seems to be via harassment about sexual proclivity. Why do teenagers love calling each other "sluts" so much? More »
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Another layer of the putrid, rotten onion that is the Penn State sex abuse scandal has been revealed: "Victim One," the first alleged victim of former coach Jerry Sandusky, was recently forced to leave his high school during his senior year because he couldn't endure any more bullying. The 17-year-old's psychologist says other students at Central Mountain High School in Pennsylvania were threatening the boy and calling him names. Unbelievably, they're incensed about the firing of former head coach Joe Paterno, and unfazed by by claims that a classmate was horribly abused. More »
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Gloria Allred, who apparently has a whole show wherein shut-ins watch her Dispense Justice on the teevee, took on a doozy of a case in a recent show, a case that pitted three popular girls against one girl who couldn't hack it with their crew. Regina George on trial! More »
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A new poll reveals that one in four women say they've been sexually harassed on the job; one in ten men say the same. But sexual harassment doesn't start or end at Nice Ass & Tittlesworth, LLC. And it can't be stopped if it's continually addressed as a problem that's specific to workplaces. More »
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Enraged conservative hedgehog Sean Hannity once again welcomed Ann Coulter to his show the other day, and the two had some pretty fun yuks about sexual harassment to wrap up their talk about politics. It's a shame that someone with as big a stage as Hannity can't come up with a better joke about on-the-job harassment, a topic ripe for comedy. More »
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Most people agree that bullying is a big problem for schoolkids, and anti-bullying efforts have gotten a lot of lip service in the past year or so. But now, some kids are doing more than talk — one boy is working with the ACLU, while others recorded their bullies to catch them in the act. More »
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Pat Lynch, a high school football coach from Wyoming, heard that bullying is a hot issue right now so he decided to weigh in — by telling his students that he has no tolerance for cry babies. Before an out of town game, Lynch gave students his "Hurt Feelings Report," which asks if they're a "queer" and calls them a "sissy" for reporting abuse. Lynch has apologized and resigned, but thankfully the students will still be in contact with this model citizen. Though he's quit the football team, Lynch will still serve as school guidance counselor, which presumably entails telling every student who comes to him with a problem that they just need to stop being such a "pussy." More »
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Female members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are coming out against the sexual harassment, assault, and bullying they say are rampant in their ranks. As a result of her alleged treatment, at least one officer now suffers from PTSD. More »
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Last week, Michigan finally passed anti-bullying legislation, but don't break out the party hats and start blaring the Lady Gaga music just yet. At the last minute, Republicans inserted a line into the legislation that exempts anyone who makes a comment based on their religious beliefs. Republicans say they're against seeing children get taunted, but felt it was important to protect the right to tell a gay kid that they're going to rot in hell. More »
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It's called the Born This Way Foundation. Shocking, we know. She'll be assisted by the MacArthur Foundation and Harvard University; an advisory board will be announced soon. More »
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In one British County, teachers apparently have some pretty unhelpful responses to bullying. Some allegedly told victims to try "acting less gay." More »
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Bullying is supposed to be a junior high thing, but everyone knows it doesn't always end when childhood does. Today we have some tips for dealing with bullies, mean girls, and mean guys who are long past their cafeteria days. More »
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The suicide and depression of Tyler Clementi is not relevant in the trial of his former roommate Dharun Ravi, a New Jersey judge has ruled. More »
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A study of bullying at a Long Island high school reveals some fascinating things about how bullying works — and doesn't work. Turns out, it won't actually make kids more popular. More »
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You might think that the people who bullied 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer with comments like "JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" are completely ashamed of themselves now that Jamey committed suicide. However, you'd be wrong. The problem is you're thinking like someone who isn't utterly disgusting. More »
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This morning we celebrated the end of one form of discrimination with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but sadly we're ending the day with a reminder that kids are still suffering terrible harassment for being gay. This weekend, just a few months after he filmed a video for the "It Gets Better" project, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer of Buffalo, NY was found dead from an apparent suicide. Earlier this month he blogged, "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?" More »
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Speaking of how to stop bullies, one mom has come up with a solution that isn't exactly legal. Tracy Morales and her 17-year-old daughter Clerissa Loucks were both arrested last week after the teen used mace against two girls she describes as bullies. Morales admits that she sent her daughter to school with the spray, and says, "I'd give her the Mace again." More »
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New Jersey's Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights —which have been recognized as the "toughest legislation against bullying in the nation"— went into effect this month causing many to wonder whether or not it will successfully protect students who were previously being bullied or who may be bullied when they are older. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5841405&view=rss&microfeed=true Continuing the moms as fight promoters trend, a Long Island woman has been arrested for allegedly escorting her 12-year-old daughter to a fight on school property this past Sunday and cheering her on during the brawl. Daphne Melin says her daughter was being cyberbullied so, "I've taken it upon myself to do what I had to do." In addition to pushing the girls to fight, that may include Melin assaulting another child in the crowd. More »
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Across the country schools are doing more to combat bullying, but no state is doing as much to address the problem as New Jersey. The state has passed the strictest legislation on bullying in the nation, and tomorrow the new law, known as the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, will go into effect. Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi's suicide nearly a year ago spurred New Jersey lawmakers to take the issue seriously, but now some are worried that schools will become too involved in normal childhood conflicts. More »
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When a Pennsylvania photographer saw that some of her teen clients were cyberbullying other kids, she refused to photograph them. Now she's receiving an outpouring of support. More »
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A school district in Minnesota is being sued by six teens who say they were severely bullied for being gay, and the staff did nothing to help them. While school officials say they're against all bullying, they insist the school must remain "neutral" on homosexuality to avoid offending anyone in an area that's particularly divided over gay rights. Now the school's policy is drawing national attention, and not just because of the lawsuits. It happens to be located in a district represented by one of America's preeminent homophobes: Michele Bachmann. More »
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Imagine you're bullied as a kid. When you grow up, it turns out you and your bully have kids at the same school. So you teach your kids to ostracize her kids, and turn all the other parents against her. Sounds like a revenge fantasy, but according to one woman, it actually happened. More »
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A new study has found that gay and bisexual teens are more likely to engage in risky behavior than their straight counterparts. A possible culprit: bullying. More »
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Maybe that kid who picked on you every day in second period wasn't actually an asshole. He/she may have just been really, really exhausted: More »
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Today three former students charged with crimes related to 15-year-old Phoebe Prince's suicide last year were put on probation, and a statutory rape charge against another was dropped. The criminal case against those accused of bullying Prince to the point that she took her own life is for the most part over, but now some are complaining that the sentences are too lenient. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5799185&view=rss&microfeed=true Today Sean Mulveyhill became the first teen to be sentenced in connection with Phoebe Prince's suicide. He pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and received a year's probation and 100 hours of community service. He's also not allowed to have contact with Prince's family without their consent, or profit from his involvement with the case — so no tell-all book for him. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5798489&view=rss&microfeed=true Rutgers student Tyler Clementi killed himself after his roommate surreptitiously taped him having a sexual encounter with another man and broadcast it to other students on campus. One of those students was Molly Wei, and she's requesting that she enter a pretrial intervention program that would allow her to avoid a criminal record. More »
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It's no surprise that a Nelson Muntz-style beating will land kids in the nurse's office, but according to a new study, both bullies and their victims are more likely to see the nurse, and not just for bruises and scrapes. More »
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The Times headline reads, "Scandals May End Sexism In Australian Military." That's a rather sweepingly optimistic suggestion, but it's clear that some major rethinking is going on there, and that the result may be combat roles being opened up to women. More »
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