Bullying school by Jacob Brower

Sunday, September 25, 2011

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Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854

Bisons take on No. 2 North Alabama Our view: City will pass tax issue, if... Harding University traveled to Florence Saturday to take on a highly-ranked opponent. — Page 1B

The people of Searcy are willing to make an investment in the long-term future of our community. — Page 4A

Special meeting set for this week Special meeting

Who: Searcy City Council When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: Searcy City Hall, 401 Morris West Arch Avenue.

Student program

What: The Leader in Me program Where: Westside Elementary School Info: The program is founded on the book “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids” by Sean Covey and is in its second year of implementation.

Council to discuss connector funding, possible tax election

By Jacob Brower jbrower@thedailycitizen.com The City of Searcy has called a special council meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss how to fund

the city’s $3 million commitment for the Highway 36/67 Connector Route, as well as improvements to connector streets. Searcy Mayor David Morris said that proposal of a city-wide sales tax may be the city's only option. "We would have to get it from one source and that would be additional revenues, and the most likely

additional revenue would be a citywide sales tax," he said last week. "It would need to be something short-term, with a sunset clause on it just for the project and, hopefully, it would include sufficient revenue to do our improvements to Davis Drive and North Main Street." State Highway Commissioner Continued on Page 2A

Locals attend first-ever Foster Friends Festival

While bullying has made national news again recently, local schools are dealing with the issue as well. State law requires cyberbullying to be punished at schools.

Bullying seen in White County Local districts, state law address bullying issue

Program teaches students good habits

By Molly M. Fleming mfleming@thedailycitizen.com It seems like an age-old problem. A student goes to school and has a peculiar characteristic. Another student sees this characteristic and decides to point it out to the rest of the class, mocking the student in the process. The victimized student begins to be upset, yet the other student continues. Then, the bell rings and both students go home. The following day, the student is still victimized as the other student continues his attacks. Yet, at the end of each day, the students go home and the victim can escape the attack. This was the old story of bullying: Children were picked on while at school, yet they were able to escape it once they loaded the bus and went their separate ways home. That story has changed because of social networking sites. Bullying on the playground or the classroom doesn’t end once a child gets off the bus. The child can now log into a social networking site, such as Facebook, and see that same ridicule on their Facebook

Westside Elementary incorporates Stephen Covey principles

By Marisa Lytle mlytle@thedailycitizen.com A personal leadership program with the goal of teaching students 21st Century life skills is in its second year at Westside Elementary School in Searcy. The Leader in Me program is based on the book “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids,” which stems from Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and is written by Covey’s son, Sean. “This is a school-wide program,” Westside principal Doug Langston said. “All of the teachers adhere to The Leader in Me, and all of them went through extensive training in ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.’ On a personal level, we try to emulate these habits and model them

Continued on Page 3A

Continued on Page 2A

State drug task force arrests 31 in crackdown

Above: Iliana Kennedy, 6, laughs while holding a duck she caught at the petting zoo at the first-ever Foster Friends Festival at the Searcy Event Center Saturday morning. The goal of the event is to raise awareness of the needs of foster children in White County. Kennedy is the daughter of Dusty and Amy Kennedy of Searcy.

The Associated Press RUSSELLVILLE — Authorities in Pope County say 31 people have been arrested in a crackdown by drug task force officers. The Courier reports that 24 of the suspects taken into custody had appearances Friday in Russellville during a special court session. Pope County Sheriff Aaron DuVall says the investigation involves as many as 40 suspects and that the probe is continuing. Drug task force officials did not reveal details about the focus of the investigation. But court documents show that a number of the people arrested are charged with methamphetaminerelated offenses.

Left: Darren Gordon of Broken Chains plays along with his band at the first-ever Foster Friends Festival at the Searcy Event Center Saturday morning. More photos from Saturday's festival are on Page 3A. Jacob Brower/ jbrower@thedailycitizen.com

WEATHER

Bullying at local schools

Today: Mostly cloudy. Isolated thunderstorms. Highs around 80. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Rain likely. Lows in the lower 50s.

INDEX NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5A CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

“

UCA won’t detail $700K gift offer investigation

The Associated Press CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas won't release details of its investigation of a $700,000 gift offer that led to the resignation of the university's president. Allen C. Meadors resigned after failing to tell trustees that a gift to renovate his house came with the condition that food service company Aramark's contract be renewed for seven years. After public pressure, Conway Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said this week that he would ask Arkansas State Police to investigate. Hiland tells the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the university cannot release interviews or documents from its investigation until state police are finished. A state police spokesman declined to comment on any investigation.

God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. Voltaire

French writer, 1694-1778

”

The Daily Citizen

Sunday, September 25, 2011 • Page 3A

Local

Locals attend Foster Friends Festival

Bald Knob honors late superintendent

Bald Knob High School cheerleaders wore T-shirts commemorating the life of James Staggs during the Bulldogs’ Friday night game against Earle. The school held a ceremony prior to kickoff to honor to former superintendent of schools, who died Thursday, Sept. 15, at age 72. Jacob Brower/jbrower@thedailycitizen.com

Bullying: Local districts address issue

Continued from Page 1A

Above: Tattoo artist Mike Randall of Vilonia applies ink to the right arm of Tim Ritchie, Foster Friends Festival event coordinator, at the Searcy Event Center Saturday morning. Left: Caitlin Amos, 10, is all smiles as she travels down a slide at the firstever Foster Friends Festival at the Searcy Event Center Saturday morning. Amos is the daughter of Karon Dickerson of Searcy. Below: Doug Grimes of Fellowship Bible Church puts BBQ sauce on Sherry Algood’s sandwich at the first-ever Foster Friends Festival at the Searcy Event Center Saturday morning. Lunch was provided free of charge to festival attendees. Jacob Brower/ jbrower@thedailycitizen.com

wall, or the ridicule can reach them via a Facebook message. This situation, better known as cyberbullying, is the latest outlet for students to affect other students outside of the classroom. Administrators in the White County Central School District said that cyberbullying is an issue they are dealing with on their campuses. “[Bullying] is different today than it was in the past because of cyberbullying,” said Sheila Bowen, superintendent of White County School District. “All of the issues we are facing have to deal with Facebook. Bullying is definitely different than when I was in high school.” According to Arkansas State Law, Act 907, any student who commits cyberbullying to another student will be punished by the principal at his or her school. The law states that such bullying is a disruption to the educational process and can therefore be punished by the school administrator. Also, every school district is now required to have a policy addressing bullying and the disciplinary actions involved, as required by state law. “[Students being punished at school for cyberbullying] is hard for parents to understand,” Bowen said. “[Cyberbullying] interferes with our day to day activities at school.” In the Riverview School District, Kensett Elementary Principal Christy Reeves said she has not seen as many cases of harassing bullying, but she has noticed that parents are more aware of the severity of today’s bullying. “There’s a difference between bullying and the typical behaviors of children, so I don’t really see a lot of the continual harassment type of bullying” Reeves said. “Parents want to help their students whenever they think they are being bullied. The kids also know that their parents are more willing to help them.” Reeves said her teachers and the rest of the administrative staff are quick to help any student who reports bullying and they document any such case. “If there’s any case of a harassment type of bullying, we document it, talk to the students involved, address how we handled it and address it with the parent and teachers,” she said. She said they also talk to the students about their actions

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Brown said she works with students and parents on how to prevent bullying and not let the bullies be effective. “I spend a lot of time with kindergarten through sixth grade students, teaching them the different aspects of preventing bullying,” she said. “I teach them to respect each other and have compassion for each other. I try to lay the foundation for skills they need to not be a bully.” With parents, the process is a little different, Brown said. With parents, it’s about empowerment. “I try to empower our parents, who will then empower their children,” she said. “While we can change a bully with discipline, we can also help those that are being bullied to not be a target. A lot of time, children that are bullied are targeted because they are weak or an easy target. I try to teach the students to look more sure of themselves, such as looking ahead as they walk or not slumping their shoulders. “I try to empower the kids to be OK with who they are. I also encourage the kids to not be by themselves, but to be with a group. We want the person who is being bullied to be empowered. They have been stripped of their power and we want them to get their power back.” DOLBY DIGITAL

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on the Internet, especially regarding cyberbullying. “We tell our students to be careful about what they post on the Internet because it could get them in trouble at school,” Reeves said. “We don’t want any student to be upset about being at school. We try to comfort them and help them.” Students at the White County Central Elementary School can get help on bullying from Counselor Amy Brown, who has taken a special interest in bullying. “I think that bullying is one of those things that every child deals with at some level, whether they are the one being bullied, the bully, or the bystander,” Brown said. “What I really have an interest in is the bystander — I don’t want to just look at who is bullying, but what other people are doing around the bully.” Brown said she is interested in knowing more about bystanders because she thinks a bystander is just as much a suspect as a bully. “With bullying today, it continues outside the initial place it happened,” she said. “It gets continued on Facebook or on email. We see kids continue to attack someone and their character. The bullying gets perpetuated by the bystander, who doesn’t see itself as the bully.”

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