NEW DETAILS: White House Conference on Bullying Prevention Set for March 10

Whitehouse.gov (Washington D.C.) March 7, 2011


"On Thursday, March 10, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services will welcome students, parents, and teachers to the White House for a Conference on Bullying Prevention.
The conference will bring together communities from across the nation who have been affected by bullying as well as those who are taking action to address it. Participants will speak about the effects of bullying and the work of students, parents, and teachers nationwide. Last fall the President , Vice President and several administration officials taped video messages for the It Gets Better campaign and discussed the need to dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage.
Thursday’s conference will also include breakout sessions to discuss effective policies and programs to prevent bullying followed by a wrap-up session in which Secretaries Duncan and Sebelius along with Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes will deliver remarks. In order to engage audiences across the country, two of the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention breakout sessions will be live chats with Facebook and iVillage." Read More

Simsbury Public Schools Promotes Positive School Climate To Prevent Bullying

The Hartford Courant (Simsbury, CT) March 3, 2011


"On March 3, Simsbury's Tariffville Elementary School cafeteria was transformed into a thinktank on bullying prevention.
District staff, including each of Simsbury's five elementary school principals, one assistant principal, and Board of Education member Tara Donohue Willerup, joined more than 30 parents to find out how to create a school climate in which all students can be safe, happy, and productive.
Simsbury Public Schools Human Resources Director and former Squadron Line School principal Matthew T. Curtis welcomed parents and provided an overview of the current district initiatives. Tariffville School Principal Scott Baker provided details about current character education efforts." Read More

Old medicines can be dangerous, feed substance abuse

Cumberland Times-News (Cumberland, MD) March, 7, 2011


"Keeping a medicine cabinet cluttered with prescription bottles holding old pills can be a danger to your own health and the health of your family. Those old prescriptions may even be feeding drug abuse and drug trafficking. The out-of-date and unused prescription drugs are dangerous and contribute to a number of problems, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Most kids get their first introduction to drug abuse from the contents of old prescription bottles sitting in our medicine cabinets.
'Prescription drug abuse is epidemic in our country,' said Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the DEA. 'Increasingly, prescription drugs are the gateway drugs for young people. The majority of young people tell surveyors that they get the drugs from friends and family,' she said." Read More

Grant To Assess Underage and Risky Drinking At Manchester Community College

The Hartford Courant (Manchester, CT) March 4, 2011


"ERASE, Inc. (East of the River Action for Substance Abuse Elimination), the area's Regional Action Council for substance abuse prevention and wellness serving 15 towns east of the Connecticut River, is a recent recipient of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services/Connecticut Healthy Campus Initiative Grant.
This collaborative project with Manchester Community College (MCC) provides $22,000 to build capacity of the campus to address underage and risky drinking behaviors, conduct needs assessments and provide prevention programming on Connecticut's largest community college campus. ERASE and MCC will work together, forming the MCC Healthy Campus Collaborative, to assess the drinking culture of MCC students and increase the campus community's awareness of consequences related to underage and risky drinking." Read More

Bullying in school often unseen by teachers, faculty, study says

Shoreline Times (Westbrook, CT) March 3, 2011


"No fists are needed. Students are taking a verbal beating, with almost 40 percent of local middle and high school students reporting being teased frequently or even daily, but an overwhelming majority of teachers don’t see it happening, according to a recent survey.
The survey was recently made public.
About 87 percent of faculty members reported that they almost never witness verbal threats in school and 45 percent said that they don’t often see teasing or bullying.
'People expect teachers to notice things that they may not necessarily notice, like day-to-day incidents,' said Westbrook High School Principal Bob Hale.
About 45 percent of middle and high school students disagreed with the statement that students don’t pick on or tease one another, and 20 percent reported experiencing verbal threats almost daily. The results showed that 26 percent of parents echoed this concern and reported that their oldest child experiences bullying almost daily." Read More

Series will wrap up with MADD presentation.

Norwich Bulletin (Hebron, CT) March 4, 2011


"On March 10, the Andover, Hebron and Marlborough Youth Services Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Task Force will wrap up its parenting series with the presentation of 'Power of Parents, It’s Your Influence.' This program is produced by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), based in New Haven. Parents of middle- and high school-age teens are invited to the forum, which will take place at 7 p.m. in the RHAM auditorium.
This MADD program provides knowledge and resources for parents to engage their teens in the very important dialogue about underage drinking. The parent program is being coordinated in partnership with RHAM. A similar program is being planned later in the spring for parents of elementary students." Read More

White House to hold anti-bullying conference next week

Washington Blade (Washington D.C.) March 1, 2011


"The White House is set to hold a conference next week in which President Obama will hear concerns about anti-LGBT bullying.
The anti-bullying prevention conference, scheduled to take place at the White House on March 10, is being hosted by Obama, the Department of Education and the Department of Health & Human Services.
In a conference call Tuesday, Melody Barnes, White House domestic policy adviser, said the conference will bring together students, parents, teachers and other leaders who “have been affected by bullying, and who have taken action to prevent bullying.”
'Participants will have the opportunity to speak with the president and representatives from the highest levels of the administration about bullying as well as ways to take action to address it in their communities,' Barnes said." Read More