According to a new study from the Kellog…

According to a new study from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, people fail to understand the consequences of social trauma felt by victims of bullying, teasing, and ostracism. This “empathy gap” can be devastating because it means victims often do not get the support, intervention or advocacy they need.

Hitchen, Mike. Bullying: Failure to identify with bully victims may cause increased suffering and decreased advocacy. http://ionglobaltrends.blogspot.com/. Tuesday, January 4, 2011.

Resource for disabled vets http://bit.ly…

Resource for disabled vets http://bit.ly/bXxkcM

http://disability.gov

NAEP: Reading Scores Flat at Grade 4, Up…

NAEP: Reading Scores Flat at Grade 4, Up Slightly at Grade 8 — THE Journal.

The Kids Can’t Help It What new research…

The Kids Can’t Help It
What new research reveals about the adolescent brain—from why kids bully to how the teen years shape the rest of your life.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/12/16/the-kids-can-t-help-it.html

SEATTLE — Blaming teachers for low test …

SEATTLE — Blaming teachers for low test scores, poor graduation rates and the other ills of American schools has been popular lately, but a new survey wags a finger closer to home.

An Associated Press-Stanford University Poll on education found that 68 percent of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what’s wrong with the U.S. education system — more than teachers, school administrators, the government or teachers unions.

Only 35 percent of those surveyed agreed that teachers deserve a great deal or a lot of the blame. Moms were more likely than dads — 72 percent versus 61 percent — to say parents are at fault. Conservatives were more likely than moderates or liberals to blame parents.

Those who said parents are to blame were more likely to cite a lack of student discipline and low expectations for students as serious problems in schools. They were also more likely to see fighting and low test scores as big problems.

“Nobody is too busy to raise a child for a successful future,” said Wilfred Luise Vincent, 65, of Coppell, Texas. Vincent worked early or late shifts for Delta Airlines during most of his career so his two daughters would have a parent at home after school.

DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP The Associated Press http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40617949/ns/us_news-life/

Unlike approaches based on ideology, suc…

Unlike approaches based on ideology, successful anti-bullying programs are quite practical and concrete: They use anonymous surveys to sample the current climate within the school. Then they go about changing the culture of the school by working primarily on bystander behavior. They make it OK for students to report bullying by altering the notion of what students consider tattling.

Successful anti-bullying efforts address precursor behaviors to bullying, like exclusion, with rules that children understand – “You can’t say, ‘You can’t play.’ ” And, while good programs do not blame the victims, they do include social skills instruction for children who are picked on to help reduce the chances they will continue to be victimized.

Most important, successful programs change the bystander behavior of adults. They challenge false beliefs among teachers and parents about the nature of bullying – that being bullied “builds character,” that “boys will be boys.” In short, they make clear that adults must not stand by when bullying takes place.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/21/EDND1GRARQ.DTL#ixzz18sgxi6pz

Steven Johnson, director of character education at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/21/EDND1GRARQ.DTL#ixzz18shEcsgb