It is an unfortunate fact of the world that bullying is on the rise, and not just at school. Bullying happens at the workplace, too. The victims of bullying suffer every day, and often struggle to even get out of bed, let alone manage to enjoy a new day.
Nobody should feel this way, and the sad thing is that these victims don’t just suffer mentally, as if that wasn’t enough. Bullying can lead to physical pain, too, with those bullied at work suffering an increased risk of heart disease as well as other chronic diseases. The amount of people with anxiety and depression is on the rise, the risk of a suicide attempt is increased, and mental health as an adult is affected.
GENERAL BILL by Criminal Justice ; Simmons ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Soto
Bullying; Providing that a person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly harasses or cyberbullies another person commits the offense of bullying, etc.
Effective Date: 10/1/2014 Last Action: 5/2/2014 Senate – Died in Appropriations Location: In committee/council (AP) Bill Text:Web Page | PDF
Jorge Saavedra, 15, stabbed and killed 16-year-old Dylan Nuno after an unprovoked attack
Saavedra was originally charged with manslaughter in juvenile court
A Florida judge now rules that Saavedra’s actions were legal because he was acting in self-defense
A Florida teen is now immune from civil and criminal charges in his classmate’s death, a judge ruled this week.
Jorge Saavedra, 15, “had more than enough reason to believe he was in danger of death or great bodily harm” from 16-year-old Dylan Nuno, in January of 2011, Judge Lauren Brodie said.
Court documents show Nuno had been harassing Saavedra for months, so much so that Saavedra brought a knife with him to school in Collier County, Florida. Witnesses say Nuno launched an unprovoked attack on Saavedra at the bus stop January 24. That’s when Saavedra stabbed and killed Nuno.
Saavedra was originally charged in juvenile court with manslaughter. But the judge ruled that according to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, his actions were legal because he was acting in self-defense. A majority of states have some sort of self-defense law, but it usually only applies in one’s own home. Five years ago, Florida expanded their law to include just about anywhere a person has a right to be.
Nuno’s father, Renier Nuno, told the Ft. Myers News-Press that the judge’s decision will only encourage more students to arm themselves. “If my son had a gun, he would be alive today. My son didn’t even have a rock or a stick,” he said.
Saavedra’s father, Jorge Saavedra Sr., spoke through his attorney, Donald Day, saying, “I’m relieved it’s over, but we feel horrible that this ever happened and it will have a serious, lifelong effect on our son.” Day added, “There really are no winners out of this today. It’s a tragedy all the way around.” Saavedra is undergoing counseling and will not return to Collier County after his release, according to his attorney.
The State Attorney’s office won’t appeal. Officials with the Collier County School District told our affiliate WINK they would not comment until they have read the ruling.
Victim: Dylan Nuno (killed)
The accused: Jorge Saavedra
Case type: Teenage bullying
Location: Public
Initiator: Victim
Witnesses: Yes
Case year: 2011
In-depth case file
Location details: School bus stop in Golden Gate Estates, Collier County, on Jan. 24, 2011
What happened: Jorge Saavedra, 14, fatally stabbed Dylan Nuno, 16, at a school bus stop. Saavedra had gotten off the bus early trying to avoid a fight. Testimony showed that Saavedra, who claimed Nuno bullied him and teased him about his learning disabilities, was trying to get away from Nuno and a group of his friends when he was punched in the back of the head. Witnesses said he continued to try to get away. But soon he took out a pocketknife and stabbed Nuno 12 times. One of the thrusts nicked Nuno’s heart. Both boys were students at Palmetto Ridge High School.
The outcome: The judge granted immunity under “stand your ground.” “The defendant was in a place where he had a right to be and was not acting unlawfully,” Collier County Circuit Judge Lauren Brodie wrote. “He had more than enough reason to believe he was in danger of death or great bodily harm.”
Investigating agency: Collier County Sheriff
Case decision made by: Judge
Weighing the circumstances
Trayvon Martin’s death became controversial because circumstances leading up to the shooting cast doubt on who was to blame. The Tampa Bay Times reviewed other “stand your ground” cases for similar circumstances. The Times relied on available information, some of which may not tell the whole story. When the situation was unclear, that was noted.
Yes
No
Unclear/
disputed
Did the victim initiate the confrontation?
Was the victim armed?
Was the victim committing a crime that led to the confrontation?
Did the defendant pursue the victim?
Could the defendant have retreated to avoid the conflict?
Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Bullying Prevention Advocate
mangicaro829@aol.com
Video released of 13-year-old girl brutally beaten on school bus
MARION COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida State Attorney’s Office released video on Thursday of a brutal fistfight on an Ocala school bus that happened on Jan. 6.
The video shows seven students, five girls and two boys, attacking a 13-year-old girl at the back of the bus, while it’s moving.
During the chaos, the bus driver turns around, points and screams something to the crowd of children, but continues to drive. He was also seen using the two-way radio.
The video shows two girls at the front of the bus screaming at the driver “Pull over!”
Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Bullying Prevention Advocate
mangicaro829@aol.com
The controversial Pinellas School Bus Beating and the more recent Gibbs High School violent classroom fight among students highlights the issue of what role educators, school employees/volunteers and even bus drivers must take when they are witness to peer victimization and bullying.
As Florida lawmakers consider Rebecca’s Law, which would criminalize bullying, individuals who work in schools must recognize the liability that might be placed on them.
In 2012, a NJ school district settled a bullying lawsuit for $4.2 million. The suit against the school district alleged officials knew or should have known of his bully’s violent tendencies. The plaintiff also accused them of failing to comply with state anti-bullying laws. The plaintiff settled out of court for an undisclosed amount with the bully’s family.
While each state sets different statutes of limitations for different types of claims, many states impose a three-year statute of limitations for injury claims in general — but for children, the statute of limitations is extended until the child’s 18th birthday. So children really have until age 21 to pursue an injury claim. Liability for bullying may have special considerations as a child who is bullied may have long-lasting repercussions that can follow into adulthood.
It will be extremely important to create a massive amount of public awareness of Rebecca’s Law and the intent of the law to prevent children from behaving like bullies, or face criminal charges and expensive lawsuits.
Surprisingly, most Florida residents are not even aware of the fact Florida currently has an anti-bullying law and our schools have already taken initiative to put in place proactive bullying prevention programs. Under the law, they loose valuable funding if they are not in compliance.
Under the new anti-bullying law, parents, guardians, teachers, educators, administrators, school volunteers and even school bus drivers must have a clear-cut definition and understanding of what their responsibilities will be to prevent children from behaving like bullies.
According to Lawyers dot com, when bullying behavior is considered a crime, “teachers can be held criminally liable for turning a blind eye to bullying.”
Bullying litigation is an emerging area of law as “Parents of victims can hold bullies – as well as schools, teachers and staff – civilly liable for bullying as well. Civil law involves tort claims. Tort law holds individuals or institutions legally responsible for harmful wrongdoing. The wrongdoing can result in monetary damages paid to the victim, even if the bully or the school isn’t criminally charged. Parents can also bring lawsuits against schools if they violate their state’s anti-bullying statutes.”
The public must be educated on what causes bullying behavior among children and what their legal responsibilities will be to prevent it.
John Borgen of Lakeland, Fla., says he dated Rebecca Sedwick, 12, and more recently Guadalupe Shaw, 14, but never dreamed one would end up taking her own life and the other would end up in jail.
John Borgen, the former boyfriend of both Rebecca Sedwick and Guadalpue Shaw, who has been charged in Sedwick’s death, says that he knew as many as 15 girls from school were teaming up against Sedwick but never expected her to kill herself.
The boy at the heart of an alleged love triangle that led to 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick’s bullying and eventual suicide is speaking out for the first time to condemn their actions.
John Borgen of Lakeland, Fla., says he dated Sedwick and more recently 14-year-old Guadalupe Shaw but never dreamed it would result in one taking her own life and the other landing behind bars.
“They need to take life seriously,” Borgen told WTSP of the crimes accused against Shaw and a second girl, aged 12. “Why do you need to be bullying somebody?”
Borgen says he knew that as many of 15 girls had teamed up against Sedwick in her final days with the 12-year-old described by the Polk County Sheriff’s Department as being Sedwick’s former best friend.
“It shocked me,” said Borgen of Sedwick’s eventual suicide on Sept. 9. “It made me mad because she should have just told somebody.”
Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Bullying Prevention Advocate
mangicaro829@aol.com
The Amazing Adolescent Brain: What Every Educator, Youth Serving Professional, and Healthcare Provider Needs to Know
By Linda Burgess Chamberlain PhD, MPH
By Linda Burgess Chamberlain PhD, MPH
Some of the most exciting new discoveries in neuroscience focus on adolescent brain development. Researchers have learned that the adolescent brain is far from completed. Many of the most important finishing touches in brain development occur during the second decade of life.
Adolescence is a window of opportunity for developing a better, smarter, faster brain. It is the time when the brain becomes more efficient and develops more advanced skills. But it can also be a time of missed opportunities and vulnerabilities if a teen does not challenge her/his brain or exposes the brain to neurotoxins, such as alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Similar to what happens in early childhood, adolescent brain development is a period of ‘use it or lose it’. Brain connections that are stimulated and used repeatedly grow stronger while unused connections wither away. How teens spend their time – their activities and experiences – influences both the organization and also the capacity of the brain.
This article reviews some of the latest research and describes how educators, healthcare providers, and youth serving professionals can help teens engage in activities that will lead to healthy, strong, and well developed brains.
Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Bullying Prevention Advocate
mangicaro829@aol.com
Does drinking soda turn kids into bullies? New research links sodas and aggression
Tuesday, August 20, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Researchers say in a new study that kids who drink soda pop generally score higher on aggressive behavior scales than kids who don’t drink the carbonated beverages.
The lead author of the study said, though, that the increased aggressiveness may not necessarily be noticeable in individual children. Also, researchers were unable to prove soda was key to causing the bad behavior, Reuters Health reported.
“It’s a little hard to interpret it. It’s not quite clinically significant,” said Shakira Suglia, of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York.
That said, previous research by some of the study’s authors unearthed ties between soda consumption and violent behavior; however, the link had not thus far been studied in younger children.
The data are compelling
Per Reuters Health:
For the new analysis, the researchers used an existing study of mothers and their 2,929 children from 20 large U.S. cities. The mothers and children were first recruited between 1998 and 2000 to be periodically interviewed and evaluated.
Mothers completed a checklist on children’s behaviors over the previous two months to measure withdrawal, attention and aggression.
“It’s things like how often does a child destroy his or her own belongings and how often do they destroy the belongings of others,” said Suglia.
The moms were also asked about how many servings of soda their kids drank per day, and about other habits they had, like watching television.
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Siblings have been bickering and trading blows since the time of Cain and Abel. But the torment and fighting that is often shrugged off as normal sibling rivalry may not always be so benign.New research suggests that even when there are no physical scars, aggression between siblings can inflict psychological wounds as damaging as the anguish caused by bullies at school or on the playground. The findings offer an unusual look at an area of family life that has rarely been studied, in part because infighting among brothers and sisters is widely considered a harmless rite of passage. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.The Anti-Bullying Critic
Dedicated to explaining the problems with the anti-bullying psychology.
The inevitable has happened. The anti-bullying psychology has finally established a solid bulwark in the home. News of a research study confirming the obvious–that sibling rivalry is an even more pervasive and destructive phenomenon than school bullying–has hit all of the major news outlets, including the most revered of all, The New York Times. Antibullyism has grown into the most influential field of psychology in history by incorporating more and more interpersonal problems into its domain and lobbying to have its paradigm and recommendations mandated by law. It has now redefined sibling rivalry as sibling bullying and is pressuringparents to put a stop to it at home.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
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g happens at the workplace, too. The victims of bullying suffer every day, and often struggle to even get out of bed, let alone manage to enjoy a new day.
Anti-Bullying Laws 