The second ordeal

In short: Read this story! It is about the need to come forward, and the - sometimes enormous - pressure that a victim/witness may face in a court of law.

Story:
A traumatised victim of a child-molesting teacher told last night of her second ordeal - helping bring him to justice.

The woman, now in her 40s, said giving evidence in court brought back the full horror of the abuse.

Fighting back tears, the woman told how her cross-examination by the defence barrister had left her feeling "isolated, violated and bullied".

She said: "The experience of being a witness, cross-examined in a very challenging and adversarial manner by the defending barrister, has had a significant impact on me. His attempts to discredit me and my occupation, has reopened old wounds and hurts."

During the trial, the defending barrister accused her of inventing the allegations because of an infatuation with him, and she broke down several times.

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Another suicide

You must read this article by Esther Rantzen about bullying! It is disturbing and sad, to say the least.
It really is one of the great mysteries of life, how utterly cruel people, young as well as old, can be towards one another.

Story:
"The National Union of Teachers has just conducted a survey which found that women teachers are often confronted by classroom louts who abuse them with sexual jibes. The NUT says it heard 'some horrible stories'."

"In Weston-super-Mare I met Barry, a young man with Asperger's, a form of autism. He had been bullied at school for five years and became shy, withdrawn and friendless. Exhausted physically and mentally by being used as a punch-bag, he learned martial arts. Once the bullies realised he could defend himself, the physical bullying stopped. But he is still the target of taunts and name-calling in the street."

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Bullying

UK -- More than 20,000 pupils skip school each day because they fear bullying, according to a new report.

Gemma Lang, of Newport, South Wales, nearly gave up on life after being the victim of bullies for nearly ten years.

But she used her experience to take on her attackers and set up a website to help other victims of bullies.

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Online stalker program

This seems like a really great idea!

Story:
A new computer educational program, warning children of the dangers of online sexual predators and bullying, launched September 6 in Australia.

Schools around the country today took part in the game, called Cybersmart Detectives, in which children role play to highlight the risks lurking in internet chat rooms.

Authorities use the program to warn that parents should monitor their child's use of the internet, that children should never give out personal information when they're chatting online, and if children want to meet face-to-face with someone they've chatted with they should always take a parent with them.

During Cybersmart Detectives, children work online using a chat-based program and play the role of the deputy principal concerned about the welfare of a new student being bullied in a chat room.

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Bullying

Here are 12 ways to stop or hinder bullying.
And you know what - it works! Kids really need to know how to defend themselves, but not necessarily in the physical sense. It can include trickery, deflection, defusion and other methods of conflict management.

Story:
Pete Nappier was bullied when he was a young kid. It was part of his inspiration to start the Safety and Awareness Institute in Hickory and Lincolnton.

Nappier teaches kids, from elementary to high school, 12 ways to deal with bullies.

"The program hits every aspect," Nappier said. "The bully only wants power. So we teach to give the bully respect. It's a pretty in-depth curriculum."

Across the county, schools say they see an increase in such problems.

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Please stop!

Could someone please remove these spineless school officials or do we have absolute tolerance for zero tolerance stupidity?

Then do take a good read on what martial arts instructor Pedro Delgado has to say! I can personally attest the effect of it.

Story:
Coral Springs parent Janice Davidow said she spent two years fearing for her 14-year-old son every time he left for school.

She said bullies have shoved her son Troy into a concrete wall, pushed him down stairs, knocked him head first onto the ground and yanked off his backpack, throwing it into the mud.

Troy, who is "skinny" and has mild learning disabilities, was an easy target, said Davidow.

She finally pulled her son out of Sawgrass Middle School in November after a boy strangled him with a piece of clothing and knocked him unconscious when he tried to get away, Davidow said.

"It was a matter of survival, not defense," she said. "Every parent is extremely powerless."

Troy was suspended for fighting back, added Davidow, who has filed two reports with the Coral Springs Police Department.

Martial arts instructor Pedro Delgado, of Sunrise, said until bullying is wiped out in the schools, he has another solution.

"They were cornering him, intimidating him," said Delgado, remembering his son's hard times at Sandpiper Elementary in Sunrise. "I started training him and taking him to karate school and he gained so much confidence nobody bothered him anymore."

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Don't fight back

Many US parents are worried about the strict rules regarding fighting in the schools.
While the intention of the zero tolerance for fighting is good, it also means that students can not defend themselves against bullies without landing in trouble.

Story:
Weatherly parents concerned about school district's disciplinary policies .
(One woman) said her son was taught to defend himself if he was attacked.
She said her son did fight back after another student initiated a fight after school, and that her son, who is a junior and an honor student, was injured as a result of the fight.
She said her son was disciplined the same as the student who initiated the fight and said it was unfair.
The mother said she was also worried that the demerit her son received will hurt her son’s college acceptances. She said colleges would not look at the reasons why the demerit was received but how many there are.

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Internet "playing" field

Cyber bullying:

The days when a school bully would steal your lunch money or rough you up after dismissal seem almost quaint. Today, the Internet has become a playground where bullies are equally vicious - and far more difficult to detect.

Masked behind the anonymity of a screen name, cyberbullies feel they can say just about anything without getting caught. They post humiliating photographs and spread hateful rumors. They create polls in which classmates are nominated for degrading titles. They even threaten death.

And the beauty - or in this case, the horror - of the Internet is that the messages are right there for the world to see.

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Bad man, bad lover

And another bad excuse for self-defense...

Story:
A man described by a judge as a bully has been found guilty of murdering 70s' pop star Lennie Peters' daughter after she accused him of being a bad lover.

He claimed he strangled her in self-defence after she attacked him.

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