Look out, Tony Robbins - ‘Thumbs Up’ biker kid a YouTube hit with motivational speech

A pint-sized Minnesota child is rocking and rolling across the internet with his inspirational message to other kids who are struggling to learn how to ride a two-wheeler.

The San Francisco Giants posted their "It Gets Better" video on YouTube and the team website

...becoming the first professional sports team to join the online campaign against gay bullying and homophobia.





Pitchers Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Sergio Romo; centerfielder Andres Torres; and batting coach Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens.

itgetsbetter.org

Fall seven times, get up eight. - Japanese Proverb

Teen girl sues Seattle school, alleges relentless bullying

'Each day was like a war zone'

By VANESSA HO, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Olivia, who did not want her face shown, has sued a Seattle middle school for allegedly failing to protect her from bullies. (Photo by Vanessa Ho) Photo: Seattlepi.com / SL

A 16-year-old girl has sued a small, private girls' school in Seattle, where she said administrators failed to protect her from two years of assaults, Facebook taunts and near-daily name-calling.

The girl, who wanted to be identified by her first name Olivia, said she was initially excited to enroll at the Seattle Girls' School in 2006, a Central District middle school known for its intimate setting and math and science curriculums.
But soon after she started sixth grade, another girl slapped her at a dance for no apparent reason, the girl said. She told her teacher, but nothing reportedly happened.
Instead, the bullying escalated to frequent name-calling, profane insults on Facebook and ostracism. She said other girls called her "ugly" and "fat pig." They arranged "secret meetings" in the bathroom to talk about her, while she overheard them in a stall and cried.
"Eacy day was like a war zone," said the girl's complaint, filed Thursday in King County Superior Court. "She was subjected to things being thrown at her head and face."
She began to dread going to her locker, where another girl with the locker above hers regularly abused her.
'I felt like I was suffocating'
"She would stand above me and shove my head down," said the girl, a slight, soft-spoken teen with braces. "I felt like I was suffocating."
But when she reported the incidents to her teachers and an advisor, she said little happened. She said they assured her that they would deal with the bullies – a group of about 10 girls – but the taunts never really stopped. She said none of the girls were suspended or expelled.
Instead, the advisor reportedly told the girl to talk to her bullies and said every grade seemed to single out a victim for bullying each year.
"Sadly, that was me," the girl said. "She said I was going to have to man up and deal with it. It was sort of like an unavoidable thing I was going to be bullied."
On Thursday, the 120-student school - which launched in 2000 with a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant - responded with a statement about its anti-bullying efforts.
But it made no mention of the complaint or the girl, now in high school.
"We take the issue of bullying, relational aggression and cyber bullying very seriously," the statement said.
"The commitment to our students who are entrusted to us is to equip them with the necessary tools and self confidence to combat issues of bullying."
The girl said the school's response included a circle group for her and her abusers, in which each girl was supposed to say if they had ever gossiped about anyone.
"They had these vague, kumbaya meetings with the girls," said the girl's attorney, Yvonne Kinoshita Ward. "That kumbaya stuff isn't going to work when it's vicious bullying and assault. You need swift, clear, consistent actions."
The abuse culminated in eighth grade in 2009, in which the girl said the locker bully kicked her hard in the back and whispered, "That hurt, didn't it." The victim's mother then pulled her daughter out of school.
The mother surmised that the school - which she said charged about $15,000 in tuition when her daughter was there - tolerated the mean girls, because it didn't want to jeopardize funding from their parents.
"They're dependent on the tuition and their reputation in the community, so rich donors (are) giving them money," said the mother, who didn't want her name used, in order to protect her daughter's identity.
"Most, if not all, the girls involved - the parents were wealthy parents."
She said the pain still lingered. Her daughter, once friendly and active in ballet, is now withdrawn and distrustful. She's been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and anoxeria. Her back still hurts.
"I used to be lot more outgoing," she said. "I'm not that person any more."

Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news. Contact Vanessa Ho at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com, and follow her on Twitter as @vanessaho.

Want to 'Beat' the Bully?

By Joel Waldron

Opinion, The Neighborhood Files

Following these five steps will help you descalate most bullying situations.

Many people, children and adults alike, simply have no idea of what to do when confronted by a bully. These skills simply aren’t taught in a structured manner and, worse, we have all heard many conflicting pieces of advice from parents and society about what to do. For example, “It’s not nice to hit” vs. “a bully won’t stop until you stand up to them.”

So, in an effort to address this situation, let me share with you what we teach our junior students at the Academy. It’s a simple progression of responses to bullying situations.

Level 1 Situation: Someone insults you from across the room - no immediate danger.

Response: “Walk away with confidence”

Walk away without hanging your head, looking down or taking shuffle steps. Keep your chin up, walk away briskly and make sure to let your parents and teachers know about the situation. Always - if we can get away, then we get away. It is always better to avoid a physical encounter. Even if for no other reason than to create a "history of events" so to speak.

Level 2 Situation: Someone moves toward you in a menacing way - escalating the danger.

Response: “Back off, you’re too close!”

(The Level 2 response assumes the child has tried to leave the immediate area as in Level 1 and can’t.) The child creates some space by taking a few steps back. They put up their hands, palms out in a “back off gesture” creating a physical boundary, and in a loud voice says, “Back off you’re too close” or something similar to create a verbal boundary. Sometimes all it takes is the realization that you’re not an easy target to turn a bully away from further aggression. Again, it is imperative for your child to understand that they need to report such incidents to both parents and the teacher.

Level 3 Situation: Someone tries to shove your child - escalating the danger once again.

Response: “Evade and redirect”

Child uses “evasion and re-direction” to avoid being shoved, further showing the bully that you are not an easy target, which by the way, is the true meaning of “sticking up for yourself.” Redirection means to use your hands to deflect the bully. Continue with the verbal boundaries and be louder! If you can’t back off the bully with your voice, then perhaps you can attract attention to yourself and the situation. Many times bullies will high tail it rather than get caught “in the act” by a teacher. Again, report the incident to both your parents and the teacher.
Level 4 Situation: Someone grabs your child and doesn’t let go.

Response: “Make ‘em weak and get free”

Here’s where opinions really start to vary. In my mind, once your child is touched in a violent way and can’t get away, the use of physical force is permissible. We teach a simple formula against being grabbed: Step one - a loosening strike. A hit to the chin, stomach, side of head, etc., just enough to loosen up the bully. Step Two - a ‘break release’. A break release is a way to use your body in a tight circular fashion to break free of the bully’s grasp. This doesn’t hurt the bully, and a smaller person can easily free themselves from a bigger one with this technique. Step three - get away. Once you are free and out of harms way, it’s not OK to keep hitting the attacker. That would take you into the attacker’s role. Perhaps we should add a formal fourth step to that process: notify parents and teacher.

Level 5 Situation: Someone repeatedly grabs your child and/or is repeatedly hitting your child each time they get away.

Response: “Lock ‘em down”

When it’s obvious that the bully is not going to give up after several instances of your breaking free, and you still can’t get away, then our students are taught how to take a bigger opponent down and lock them down until help arrives. They are taught to do so inflicting as little harm as possible, but here they are taught to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves. At this point the bully has shown that nothing short of physical force will make them stop, so physical force becomes acceptable.

All through these methods, the concepts of getting away if possible, not instigating or exacerbating the situation and reporting these incidents to parents and teachers are reinforced constantly. If parents and teachers do their part, it’s hard to see how a child would have to take it to Level 4 or higher. However, I fully believe that if a child has to, they should be allowed to protect themselves in anyway way necessary against an aggressor.

http://windsorlocks.patch.com

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend. - Albert Camus

Hamill' tells inspirational story of deaf fighter who continues to win

Teased and bullied by kids growing up because he was different, Hamill credits his grandfather for teaching him respect, honor and pride.



By Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press


View Trailer

The movie spotlight shines this fall on Matt (The Hammer) Hamill, his opponent in Saturday night's main event at UFC 130, when "Hamill" opens in theatres.

The film is the inspirational story of Hamill, who was born deaf. It depicts Hamill's youth but focuses mostly on 1997 when — as a sophomore walk-on at the Rochester Institute of Technology, which has a deaf school — he won the first of three NCAA Division 3 wrestling championships.

"Hamill" is a study of perseverance. Movie-goers will likely wipe away a tear and leave with a healthy respect for Matt Hamill, as well as a better grasp of deaf life.

Directed by Oren Kaplan, the film uses sound or lack thereof as well as subtitles, often with words missing, to gets its message across.

At the heart of the movie is a deft, understated performance by Russell Harvard, the deaf actor who plays Hamill. You may remember Harvard for his brief appearance as Daniel Day-Lewis' grown-up son H.W. at the end of "There Will be Blood."

"Hamill" has been entered in six film festivals to date — Newport Beach, Florida, AFI, Miami, Cleveland and Philadelphia — and won audience awards in every one.

"There's been an overwhelming response to the film, which has been amazing ... People really respond to Matt's story. I think it's universal," said co-writers Joseph McKelheer.

In real life or on the movie screen, it's hard not to root for Matt Hamill.

"I'm just trying to be who I am," he tells reporters with a broad smile. "I'm happy the way I am."

Read More



Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

'The Bully Project': A Film Takes On Harassment, From Iowa to Tribeca

By Robert Levin

http://www.theatlantic.com

Robert Levin Robert Levin - Robert Levin writes about film and other entertainment topics for amNewYork, Inside Jersey, Backstage, and elsewhere. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online guild.

An interview with documentarian Lee Hirsch about one of the most talked-about movies at this year's Tribeca Film Festival

One of the most talked-about movies at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, The Bully Project, shines light on a serious problem: More than 5.7 million U.S. schoolchildren are involved in bullying each year.

In The Bully Project, documentarian Lee Hirsch conducts a cross-country examination of bullying, looking at a Sioux City, Iowa teenager tortured for being different, a lesbian high school student in Oklahoma, families who lost their bullied children to suicide, and other case studies. Securing a distribution deal with the Weinstein Company yesterday, the film is at once a devastating portrait of individuals tormented for being different and an inspirational depiction of communities standing up to right an egregious wrong. Here, Hirsch offers his thoughts on his hopes for the project.

________________________________________________________

It seems like bullying has gotten worse in recent years. Do you agree?

I don't know if I share that perspective. It's really deeply personal, based on our own experiences. I think maybe what's happening is that we're talking about it more and this sense it's gotten worse is because it's more acceptable to talk about it. We are seeing more correlations being made between young suicides and bullying, and I think that's creating this perception.

The other thing that I think has changed, which isn't so much an element in our film, is the cyber-bullying component. It can make it worse. . . . What's interesting is as we were out filming the film, the families and the kids we were meeting and filming with, cyber-bullying wasn't the thing. It was the sort of classic brick-and-mortars bullying that you and I remember. I don't know if it's getting worse or if we're just calling it when we see it more.

Why do you think there's such a groundswell of attention around the bullying epidemic?

I think part of what's happening is people are networked very well on Facebook that are aligned around this issue—in particular, a lot of the families who've lost children. So they kind of went and ran with it. As far as the groundswell, a lot of things have happened in the last six months. There's been a bullying summit at the White House. There have been major initiatives by CNN and Cartoon Network.

There are a number of things that are going to come together that are really exciting around The Bully Project. I would like to think that we are maybe at the beginning of a tipping-point moment, and that hopefully The Bully Project will be a piece of that and give something really tangible that people can hold on to and run with and feel moved through and then translate that into action.

What do you want young viewers in particular to take away from the film?

In the film, we've certainly shied away from any kind of legislative agenda. Rather, I think the focus, at least for us, especially because we're not experts, is to hopefully allow people to feel like they can make a difference. Particularly young viewers—that they can stand up, they can put a stop to it, they can step in on someone's behalf and that that's empowering, that's possible and that really will cause change.

How did you begin the process of finding your subjects?

Initially we were reading a lot of local stories. There were two high-profile suicides around the time that we started. Ellen DeGeneres had done a show with the moms. And there were so many comments on her webpage, close to a thousand, and many of them were from kids or families that were dealing with similar situations—that were, in effect, in crisis. Our first access break really came from producers of the Ellen show, who agreed to pass on e-mails to us of some of the families.

How about getting the Sioux City Community School District on board to let you film in one of its schools? That must have been a challenge.

One of our funders has been doing bullying- and violence-prevention work in the Sioux City area for 10 years. That's the Waitt Family Foundation. They have been highly supportive of bringing programming and helping out in the Sioux City Community School District. They were able to facilitate an introduction to the superintendent, the school board, and the administrators of the district. We told them what we wanted to do in a series of meetings and presentations to the school board and asked if they would consider it. And they decided to allow us to film inside their school.

What do you make of their willingness to be involved, and to take some of the heat that comes with the film's depiction of their inability to effectively combat in-house bullying?

It's a tough thing, because a lot of the emotional blame in the film gets made on the administrator that you see. It's tough. I mean the reality is that they were pretty amazing to allow us to do what we did and to stand behind the film. The administration was at the premiere—the superintendent came to New York to be with us—and one of the things they've said and stood by, even if the outcome doesn't make them look great, is, "If we do this, not only will we learn, but maybe we can help other schools, other administrators and help make a difference." I think it was a really brave and generous position that school district took. I really applaud them.

To really reach people, a film like The Bully Project obviously needs to be shown not just on the usual release platforms, but in special screenings on a community level. What's an example of how you plan to do that?

We were approached by the Philadelphia City Council, in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. They're busy planning a Bully Project day for back to school, which is super-awesome. The components are: The film will screen at the National Constitution Center, hopefully with major guests from government, possibly celebrities, hopefully some of the families in the film. We'll have a kids representative from all the schools, and each school in the district will be screening it at the same time in their buildings. Then we'll have a video-conference Q&A across the schools, with the Constitution Center event. Then they'll break up into groups and spend the rest of the day discussing, talking, and working out their feelings that come from the film.

What's more interesting is that there are already student leaders planning that event now for back-to-school. It's got a lot of support behind it, but there's a massive student component, so they can take ownership of it. . . . That's the kind of thing that's really powerful. If we can do more of those, if that becomes the model, that would be a dream come true.

Bullying: Fighting back, from the stage

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times

 
Students in the CAP / Plaza de la Raza Theater Program explore bullying in the play "Life is a Dream" ("La Vida es Sueño"). (Scott Groller)

Los Angeles-area teenagers are taking the crusade against bullying to the stage. Their play, an adaptation of the 17th century Spanish classic "Life is a Dream" ("La Vida es Sueño") by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, takes the action into a modern high school setting and uses students' experiences with bullying to explore how it affects kids....Guest playwright Sarah Louise Wilson led the 47 students, who range in age from 11 to 18, in a series of writing exercises about bullying. She asked whether they'd been bullied, and whether they'd bullied other people. Everyone had a story to write, Wilson said -- and she took those stories and incorporated them into the adaptation. When the curtain rises, the hero of the play is being picked on by other kids. He becomes popular and starts bullying others, and is eventually humbled himself.

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