Positive Post-It Day post thumbnail

Positive Post-It Day

In case you haven’t heard, Positive Post-It Day is a worldwide phenomenon – and it all began with a Canadian teenager in the fall of 2014 who wanted to flip the script on bullying. Alberta student Caitlin Haacke was bullied at school and threatened on Facebook with suggestions to take her own life. Instead of […]

The Social Bond: A Practical Way for Schools to Reduce Bullying post thumbnail

The Social Bond: A Practical Way for Schools to Reduce Bullying

If you work in the youth safety space, you know that certain initiatives (such as resilience building) have focused on targets of bullying and cyberbullying. Other programming has concentrated attention on aggressors – to the kids who harass, humiliate, and threaten other youth offline and online. Here, restorative practices and social emotional learning (anger management, […]

Millions of Students Skip School Each Year Because of Bullying post thumbnail

Millions of Students Skip School Each Year Because of Bullying

Over five years ago I saw a statistic that jumped out at me: “160,000 students stay home from school every day because of bullying.” This is a compelling and frankly unacceptable number. I thought about including it in a book that Sameer and I were working on at the time. As I started to dig […]

My Visit to the Columbine Memorial post thumbnail

My Visit to the Columbine Memorial

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the Columbine Memorial in Littleton, Colorado. Even though my family loves Colorado as a vacation destination, I had never stopped by to see what was done to honor those who lost their lives in that horrific tragedy. My friend Dan – who lives in Littleton – […]

Speaking to Teens at Parochial Schools about Bullying post thumbnail

Speaking to Teens at Parochial Schools about Bullying

Apart from our efforts within various public schools around the nation, Justin and I also work regularly with parochial schools as they attempt to reduce bullying and encourage kindness across their campuses. This gives us a chance to really connect with the youth there in a powerful way by dovetailing their faith with a call […]

Setting up a Free Bullying and Cyberbullying Reporting System with Google Voice post thumbnail

Setting up a Free Bullying and Cyberbullying Reporting System with Google Voice

I have written in the past on anonymous reporting systems in schools, and I strongly advocate for them whenever I have the opportunity to speak to educators on how they should prevent cyberbullying. Based on your own observations, I am sure you’d agree with me that youth are way more comfortable texting/typing – especially when […]

Educator Searches of Private Student Social Media Profiles: The Illinois Experiment post thumbnail

Educator Searches of Private Student Social Media Profiles: The Illinois Experiment

Last summer, Illinois (somewhat quietly) passed a new bullying law that took effect on January 1, 2015. The law includes language similar to at least 13 other states which makes it clear that schools have the authority to discipline students for cyberbullying that occurs off campus (and outside of a school-sponsored activity), when such behavior […]

Cyberbullying Activity: Research post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Activity: Research

Use this Cyberbullying Research activity to help your students better understand the nature and extent of cyberbullying behaviors. Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2014). A Leader’s Guide to Words Wound. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Download PDF You can also download the complete (and free!) Leader’s Guide to Words Wound by clicking here.

Cyberbullying Activity: Laws post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Activity: Laws

Use this activity to help your students learn about laws related to bullying and cyberbullying. Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2014). A Leader’s Guide to Words Wound. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Download PDF You can also download the complete (and free!) Leader’s Guide to Words Wound by clicking here.

Cyberbullying Activity: Crossword Puzzle post thumbnail

Cyberbullying Activity: Crossword Puzzle

Use this Crossword Puzzle activity to introduce students to important concepts related to cyberbullying and Internet safety. Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2014). A Leader’s Guide to Words Wound. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Download PDF You can also download the complete (and free!) Leader’s Guide to Words Wound by clicking here.