Parkway Southwest Middle School Dedicates Day to Anti-Bullying

The students spent the day learning about the impact of bullying and watching a documentary on the issue.

According to Parkway School District staff, Wednesday was used as a day to educate Parkway Southwest Middle School students about the issue of bullying. A report by KSDK, outlined the day and explained that students also watched the 2011 documentary "Bully" then held discussions on the topic. (View complete KSDK report here.) In the KSDK report, school principal Craig Maxwell explained that the idea of dedicating an entire day to the anti-bullying movement came after a student field trip last year to view the documentary. Maxwell said the goal is to empower students to make a difference. As previously reported by Patch, bullying is an issue that has both Parkway and state legislators taking steps to not only reduce the number of incidents…

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Town and Country Rep.'s Bullying Bill Moves Through State Legislature

House Bill 134, sponsored by Rep. Sue Allen (R-Town and Country), would require school districts to have specifics in their ant-bullying policies.

The winter weather that had St. Louis in prep mode for much of the week also had an impact on state lawmakers in Jefferson City, forcing the General Assembly and the State Senate into an early recess, with no session held Thursday. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.)  Among the bills currently in legislative transit is House Bill 134, sponsored by Rep. Sue Allen (R-Town and Country), which would change laws regarding bullying in schools and establish specific components that a district must include in its anti-bullying policy, according to information on Missouri House of Representatives website. Ruth Ahlemeier, a Ladue School District parent from Olivette, testified in favor of the bill in a House…

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Stricter Bullying Legislation Pushed by Rep. Sue Allen, Again

Missouri State Representative Sue Allen, (R) Town and Country, wants school districts required to establish bullying policies and put them in writing, so clear guidelines are in place.

Missouri State Representative Sue Allen, (R) Town and Country, plans to reintroduce bullying legislation later this year that will require school districts to establish their own bullying policies and put them in writing so school staff, parents and students have clear steps to follow when filing complaints.  (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) Allen tells Town and Country - Manchester Patch, this move is not a reaction to the recent news of an "ugly tradition" in the form of a senior list that's been reportedly circulating within the Ladue School District for more than a decade. However, she said that incident is an example of why school districts need to have clear policies and guidelines in …

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School Bullying: Do New Guidelines Do Enough?

A new pamphlet by the National School Boards Association spells out guidelines school officials should use to combat bullying, an issue many St. Louis-area schools have dealt with.

New guidelines from the National School Boards Association, released this week, spell out ways school officials should address the issue of bullying in their classrooms, while protecting the First Amendment rights of students. The guidelines (PDF) start with the free speech issue: "The fact that some speech deeply upsets, offends or angers some citizens is not a justification for banning or limiting the speech....In general, a listener is free to avoid hateful speech, to turn away, and, of course, to respond and to challenge it. But listeners may not insist that government silence the speech." (Please see the PDF file attached to this article for more details.) An article in Education Week notes that "the new guidelines were produced by …

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Moms Talk: How Should a Child Handle Being Bullied?

This week, local parents share their thoughts on bullying and how children should respond if they are being picked on?

Town and Country-Manchester Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support families right here in Town and Country and Manchester. Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest parenting hot topic.  This week, we start the conversation with a question about bullying. It seems to be a serious subject for children of all ages, so much so that the Missouri legislature has gotten involved. These days, bullying can take place at school, after school and even online. Question: What should children do if they find themself being picked on? Do they report it to a teacher, parent or just stand up to the bully? And if they do tell a parent, what's the best way for a parent to address the …

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Timothy Poorman

9:02 pm on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The first thing the child should do is tell a teacher, administrator or some other adult. Schools these days take this seriously. We have had this problem in our house and our son actually was being bullied on the bus. He told the bus drivers and even the school administration and this seemed to make the situation worse. After all of this and me telling him to just ignore the bully he finally …   more ›

Opinion

Questions Often Without Answers

License plates, bullying and smoking all make me ask questions. Some of them have no answers and others raise too many answers.

Every day I ask myself questions. Sometimes they are rhetorical, and sometimes I would love to have an answer. Here are a few of them. Why do some people buy extremely expensive cars and then refuse to attach the front license plate? It is not like the Missouri law that requires a front and rear license plate has an asterisk and in fine print states, “unless the vehicle is a BMW, Lexus or Mercedes Benz and the owner lives in an area with a zip code of 63124, 63131, 63141, 63017 or 63005.”  The clerks at the Missouri Department of Revenue fee offices still give you two license plates, one for the front and one for the rear, regardless of the make of your car or your address. I do wonder if people who go without a front license plate are …

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Town and Country Lawmaker Plans to Tighten School Bullying Policies

Local parents and Parkway reacts as a Town and Country lawmaker takes steps to tighten school bullying policies and educate students at a younger age about bully behavior.

Bullying is a problem that no parent or child wants to deal with, but many are. Despite efforts on many levels to stop the harassment that often begins at a very early age, when Patch talked to kids, parents and school officials, we were hard pressed to find someone who hasn't either dealt with the issue personally or seen it take place. All agreed that an even bigger issue is that it's a hard problem to solve because the behavior begins at an early age and it's normally done when adults aren't around. The issue is so big that students, parents, and teachers are scheduled to address the issue Thursday at the White House during a conference on bullying prevention. Meanwhile, Town and Country Republican State Representative Sue Allen  also …

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Your Weekly Patch Preview

Take a look at just some of what you'll find on Town and Country - Manchester Patch this week.

Coming up this week on your Town and Country - Manchester Patch site:   Local Parents and Parkway React To New Proposed Bullying Legislation - A Town and Country state lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to tighten bullying legislation in public schools. This week Patch takes a look at the changes she's proposing, plus we talk to Parkway and parents for a closer look at bullying, what they're seeing and what they think about the proposed changes. Could Red Light Cameras Be Coming to Town and Country and Manchester - Red light cameras come with strong opinions on both sides of the issue, but are they coming to Town and Country and Manchester? With recent changes to Missouri red light camera restrictions, Patch talks with local police departments …

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