Father Tells Son's Story at Bullying Seminar

The evening program for parents of students of all ages will be Thursday at 6 p.m.

  The Woburn Police Department School Resource Officers and Kennedy-Joyce PTOs will hold a bullying seminar for parents Thursday at 6 p.m. The presentation—held in the Kennedy Middle School auditorium—will focus on "Ryan's Story." Ryan Halligan was a 13-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied in person and online by classmates in 2003. His father, John, will tell Ryan's story to Woburn parents on Thursday. It is a story that has resonated with children, as evidenced by the "dedications" published on Ryan's website.

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TELL US: Does Charlie Brown's 'Great Pumpkin' Condone Bullying?

One parent is asking the holiday classic special to be removed from the airwaves because of a "bullying" theme. Do you agree?

  Teasing or bullying? One parent is speaking out online against the Halloween classic program, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," claiming the animated favorite actually condones bullying, according to a report on WCVB.com. The TODAY Show's Moms Blog reported this week that in a recent blog post on Babble.com, blogger DadCamp wrote that the show sends the wrong message to children because of its "continuous teasing and bullying": "The show is riddled with the kids calling each other stupid, dumb, and blockheads," DadCamp wrote. "Charlie Brown is supposed to be the hero. Instead, he is kicked and demeaned at every turn, even by the adults giving out candy." Bishop goes on to argue the Charlie Brown specials have nothing of value to …

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A Primer on Bullying

Plus lessons for parents from a community educator from the Mass. Aggression Reduction Center, and recollections from Channel 5 news anchor Ed Harding.

Words can hurt. If they’re used repeatedly against a target, that’s bullying. Bullying can lead to depression, even suicide. So how to deal with bullying? TV Channel 5 news anchor Ed Harding, his wife, Andrea, and Nicole Wilson, a licensed social worker from the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College, addressed that question at the Joyce Middle School auditorium Wednesday night. Harding was bullied, he told the audience, in junior high school. Eventually, he said, his gym teacher paired him and the boy who was bullying him in a wrestling match. In a few short seconds, Harding said he pinned the other boy. Off the mat, Harding said he told the boy the bullying had to stop. The other boy had trouble with his …

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Maureen Foley Cioni

10:21 am on Monday, May 16, 2011

Rhonda, I'm sorry you and your daughter are going through this. The media center did tape the program, maybe you can borrow a DVD of it and watch it with your daughter? My other thought, which is harder, is to sit down with Mr. Qualey and all of the kids involved and maybe a third party mediator? This might help get all the issues out in the open and solve them. I will be part of the new PTO for …   more ›

Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today, April 27

Parent seminar on bullying at Joyce MS tonight.

"Five Things You Need to Know Today" is a Patch column that provides readers with essential, daily information at a glance. Let us know what you think of the feature in the comments section. Today is Wednesday, April 27. Here are five things you need to know: To find out what is going on today in Woburn, check out our events listings. 

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Protecting Your Child Against Bullies

The Woburn Police Department's Student Resource Officers, along with the Joyce and Kennedy Middle School PTOs, are sponsoring a parents seminar Wednesday.

A special seminar on how to protect your children against bullying will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Joyce Middle School auditorium.  The discussion, which will focus on current research and studies, is sponsored by the Woburn Police Department's Student Resource Officers and the Joyce and Kennedy middle schools' Parent-Teacher organizations.  "I think this will be very informative for all parents, teachers, staff and other interested parties," said Woburn Police Officer Anthony Imperioso. The presentation will discuss how parents can partner with schools to prepare and protect children against bullying, including cyber-bullying on the Internet. According to information from Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, who will be …

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