Bullying in the Workplace

This is a bit outside of what is normally posted here on The Acceptivity Project, but bullying is still bullying even when it happens among adults. And let's face it, sometimes adults act very childish.

As if they did not already have enough to worry about, from finding jobs to keeping the ones they have, employees are confronting a new phenomenon lately: bullying in the workplace.

While there is no precise definition of what constitutes workplace bullying, it generally consists of supervisors hassling, even harassing, subordinates. Bullying comes in many forms. It may include verbal abuse, such as use of derogatory remarks, insults and epithets; inconsistent and contradictory directives; poor performance evaluations, and freezing out employees from participating in important workplace or social activities.

A 2010 survey by an organization called the Workplace Bully Institute found that more than one-third of workers in this country have experienced workplace bullying. The majority of the reported bullying was same-gender harassment, with a large, and growing, portion citing female managers bullying subordinate females and, occasionally, male underlings.

These findings come at a time when retaliation against employees, another form of bullying, is reaching record heights. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that oversees discrimination and harassment laws, reports that retaliation has become the leading category of complaints filed by workers.

Last year, more than 36,000 of about 100,000 complaints filed with the EEOC alleged retaliation against employees who had raised issues about perceived improprieties in the workplace. The increase in retaliation claims has been spurred by favorable court rulings making it easier for employees to pursue these allegations.

Numerous federal, state and some municipal laws protect employees against such treatment only if they fall within one of about a dozen "protected" classifications, such as gender, race, age, disability or religion.

The Minnesota Supreme Court, for instance, earlier this year ruled that sexual harassment claims do not apply to adverse treatment of one gender against the other unless there is some sexual connotation. Since most bullying is gender-neutral, it generally falls outside the scope of existing laws.

In Minnesota, most of the legislative attention has been directed to the harassment of students. An anti-bullying measure was passed by the Legislature during the waning days of the administration of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who vetoed the measure, claiming erroneously that it was redundant with existing harassment laws.

Legislation directed against bullying in the workplace has not advanced in Minnesota. Given the current complexion of the Legislature; it is unlikely to surface soon.

But these issues have been confronted and addressed internationally. Nearly 20 years ago, Sweden became the first nation to enact explicit anti-bullying legislation. The measure, known as the Ordinance on Victimization at Work, bars bullying and levies fines and even imprisonment upon abusive employers. But the law does not allow civil lawsuits by abused employees.

Other European nations, including Great Britain and France, have similar measures, but permit civil suits. The British law, for example, recently yielded a $1 million award of damages to an abused employee.

Bad business

These laws are no panacea. They also raise the potential of a torrent of merit-less litigation that could be viewed as a "shakedown" of management. But bullying does not easily fit into these laws.

Most would agree that bullying is bad for business. The practice causes morale problems and leads to turmoil, turnover and lower productivity. Even without legislation, an employer should take steps to prevent workplace bullying. These could include:

•Adopting protocols that prohibit abusive conduct, even going beyond existing discrimination and harassment laws.

•Communicating the policies to all employees, particularly supervisors.

•Training managers on how to spot bullying, respond to complaints and avoid retaliation.

•Encouraging employees to report bullying and assure them that no retaliation will not be taken against them if they do so.

Employers and employees have a stake in preventing bullying. They need not wait for legislation to act appropriately in battling back against bullies in the workplace.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/business/134507163.html

Recently in the News

I comb through a lot of news resources every day to find articles fitting for The Acceptivity Project. Sometimes I come across a few things that perhaps don't align perfectly with the goal of TAP, but are worth posting because they're helpful in some other way.

• Teens Use 16th B-day Party to Raise Awareness for Teen Suicide
• Teen Singer Commits to Fighting Bullies
• Study Shows 40% of Suicidal Kids Make First Attempt Before H.S.

Ben Lewis' Family Speak Up About Bullying

Another article where the family of a teen who committed suicide as a result of bullying are speaking up about the way schools handle bullying. I hope they're listening.

LINCOLN, Neb. - The family of a boy who committed suicide after being teased by his peers says schools need to adopt strong anti-bullying measures.

Ben Lewis' family told the Lincoln Journal Star that the 15-year-old with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, had always been picked on for being different. But the teasing got worse after the family moved to Lincoln from Omaha in October.

The family doesn't blame Lincoln schools for Ben's death last week. But one of his uncles, Dan Green, said schools need to have strong anti-bullying policies and back them up.

"Schools preach about their commitment to strict anti-bullying policies, but what goes into the policies? What should parents do?" Green said. "There's got to be someone who parents can reach out to."

Green said schools should suggest steps parents can take to combat bullying, including referrals to outside counselors.

Lincoln High School Principal Mike Wortman said school officials weren't aware Ben was having problems.

Wortman said when officials do learn about bullying, they talk to the students involved and work to find a solution. The school also spends time trying to teach all students how they should treat one another.

Family members said Ben had trouble communicating because of his Asperger's syndrome, so even though he'd mentioned some problems, they didn't realize how severe they were. Ben would quickly change the subject when asked about the bullying.

But soon before his death, Ben mentioned to his family several times that he was being picked on and that students in Lincoln seemed meaner than in Omaha.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/national/suicide-victim-s-kin-speak-up-on-bullying/article_c24821ab-0ebe-5659-9282-ce3505b7b7c2.html#ixzz1f7MBQ39j

Source: http://azstarnet.com/news/national/suicide-victim-s-kin-speak-up-on-bullying/article_c24821ab-0ebe-5659-9282-ce3505b7b7c2.html

"Cyber-bullying on the rise"

It is always alarming to me when people think that cyber-bullying is not as "real" as the old fashioned kind. This kind of ignorance can lead to unsavory consequences on the part of the victim. It's important for all of us - parents, teachers, advocates alike - to get educated on the subject. Here is a great article out of Canada that presents startling statistics on cyber-bullying and how parents can properly handle the situation.

The 21st-century school bully need not rely on just fists and a cruel tongue. The Internet is now part of the bully's arsenal, making cyber-bullying possible anywhere -- and not just around school hours.

The Internet has also opened the door for first-time bullies, according to a University of Toronto study.

"A threat made through Facebook or texting is as serious as a threat made at school," says Brenda Simmonds, principal of Monterey Middle School in Victoria.

Any cases that surface at school or at home can be tricky to peg down. Detection is far less likely than in face-to-face bullying. The cyber-bully hides behind the Internet's cloak of anonymity. There's little risk of being interrupted or found out by an adult. Also, there's less chance of a victim physically retaliating.

"Because you have that layer, it makes the cyber-bully braver and less inhibited," Simmonds says.

Cyber-bullying is much the same as regular bullying, but without the physical presence, says the University of Victoria's Bonnie Leadbeater. It's intentionally hurting someone by teasing, intimidation, rumour or exclusion. "These are the kids who are repeatedly harassed and bullied and end up killing themselves," Leadbeater says.

Cyber-bullying is happening more and more, according to Darren Laur, a Victoria, B.C., police officer who, as a personal protection consultant, often speaks at schools. "It's the big thing now. Back in our day, it used to be the bathroom wall," Laur says, referring to the way reputations were once damaged at school.

Laur estimates his private company receives two calls a month about cyber-bullying. Last year, one came from a high school where a group of girls had created a website and blog to target one girl.

The 2008 University of Toronto study found half the young people surveyed reported being cyber-bullied. And, according to the study cited on the Be Web Aware website, 75 per cent of those admitting to cyber-bullying someone had never bullied anyone off-line and face-to-face.

Cyber-bullying was unheard of 12 years ago when Leadbeater helped create WITS, the widely used school anti-bullying program sparked in part by the 1997 homicide of schoolgirl Reena Virk.

"It just wasn't an issue," Leadbeater says, adding it became one a few years ago. She and her grad students have since augmented the program with cyber-bullying material for parents and children.

Cellphone use by children has increased by 68 per cent since 2005, according to New York's Mediamark Research and Intelligence (media-mark.com). An estimated 36.1 per cent of 10-and 11-year-olds have cellphones. Most use them for basic communication tasks, such as calling parents (88.1 per cent), calling friends (68.1 per cent), emergency purposes (55.7 per cent) and text messaging (54.1 per cent).

Technology has changed the way kids interact. Today's children are far more electronically connected -- and computer savvy than their parents, Laur says.

"We know most of the kids are involved in communicating with each other," Simmonds says. Her school bans texting and cellphone use during school hours, but she can't guarantee it doesn't happen.

Sandra Hudson, a mother of an 11-and a 14-year-old, was surprised that children send or receive an average of about 3,000 text messages a month until she checked the monthly statement for her son's iPhone texts. He was close to the mark.

"That's how they communicate," Hudson says, referring to the few words or lines he texts to friends or to her.

While the adolescent Hudson might have been overheard on the family phone, that's unlikely when her son texts on his iPhone.

"He could be sitting next to me in the car and cyber-bullying someone, and I wouldn't know," Hudson says, not believing he actually does.

Chances are you won't know if your child is a cyber-bully, according to Laur. "You won't know until someone contacts you."

It's also difficult to know if your child is being bullied, Laur says. Children don't readily admit to it.

The signs, however, are similar to any type of bullying -- fear of leaving home, crying for no apparent reason, decline in school work, change in dress, calls to parents for a pickup at school and a concern for personal safety.

The first thing a parent should do if their child is cyber-bullied is contact the bully's parents. Further, notify your child's school and even the police. Once a child reaches 12, uttering threats or harassment can be a criminal matter, Laur says.

Kids don't realize the scope of the Internet, according to Leadbeater.

"Kids don't understand it's a public document as soon as it's on the Internet. They don't think it's illegal or can be easily traced," she says.

The consensus is that parents should set family rules on Internet use. Further, they should familiarize themselves with what their child is doing and where on the Internet, Leadbeater says.

"Make it clear that you, the parent, know what cyber-bullying is."

Read more: http://www.canada.com/life/Cyber+bullying+rise/2915031/story.html#ixzz1f7Z3uErh

Source:  http://www.canada.com/life/Cyber+bullying+rise/2915031/story.html#ixzz1f7Z3uErh

"Bay Area couple at center of federal gay rights showdown"

In late August 2008, Karen Golinski and her partner of 18 years, Amy Cunninghis, gathered with family and friends in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall and exchanged wedding vows, their young son serving as ring bearer.

But as one of the 18,000 same-sex couples who married before voters approved Proposition 8 that fall, Golinski and Cunninghis now find themselves in the midst of a legal firestorm over same-sex marriage that may be one of several to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their marriage license, it turns out, was just the beginning of the fight, not the end.

With a simple bid to add Cunninghis to her health insurance plan, Golinski has triggered one of six constitutional challenges to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, a 15-year-old law that restricts the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman and therefore forbids federal government recognition of same-sex marriages.

San Francisco U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White is set to hear Golinski's case in mid-December, pushing it near the front of the line in lawsuits around the country challenging DOMA. And, significantly, the Obama administration, which has abandoned defense of the law, will appear in court to side with Golinski.

The legal challenges to DOMA, a federal law, pose different issues than the ongoing conflict over California's Proposition 8, which tests the broader question of whether states can outlaw same-sex marriage

altogether. But with both cases barreling toward the Supreme Court, legal experts say they are likely to shape the law around gay marriage within the next few years.

Race to Supreme Court

Golinski and Cunninghis rushed to the altar to beat Proposition 8 to the punch, gaining their marriage rights just before voters restored California's ban on gay nuptials. Those marriages remain legal across the state. But during a recent interview in their San Francisco home, the couple appears almost astounded their marriage rights have spawned such a high-stakes legal battle.

"Our joke has always been that we didn't want to make a federal case out of it," Golinski said. "I don't think either one of us anticipated what this has developed into."

Golinski spurred the case by seeking to add her spouse to her health plan as a longtime staff attorney for the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is likely to be asked to rule on her lawsuit. But as a federal government employee, her request was rejected by federal agencies, which cited DOMA -- even though her boss, 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, concluded she was entitled to the benefits.

Backed by gay rights groups, Golinski sued the government, arguing that DOMA discriminates against legally married same-sex couples by depriving them of the same rights, from health benefits to tax status, as heterosexual couples. Her lawsuit notes that fellow 9th Circuit married heterosexual employees can add their spouses to health plans, but she cannot, despite California's recognition of her marriage.

House Republicans have jumped into the fray, defending DOMA as constitutional in the Golinski case and others around the country, including one out of Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, that has reached a federal appeals court. Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general during the Bush administration and lead lawyer for the Republicans, did not return a message seeking comment.

But gay marriage foes argue Congress has a right to define marriage and restrict federal benefits to same-sex couples, citing the historical underpinnings of heterosexual marriage and its purpose to procreate.

"(The case) has the potential to settle this question this country wants to know: Is it constitutional for Congress to define marriage as between a man and a woman?" said Dale Schowengerdt, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, another group defending DOMA. "It's a race to the Supreme Court."

DOMA in jeopardy?

Legal experts say challenges to the federal law could in fact reach the Supreme Court before the legal battle over Proposition 8 is resolved. Steve Sanders, a University of Michigan law professor, said DOMA appears more vulnerable, while the Proposition 8 showdown is a tougher road for gay rights advocates.

"Requiring all states to license same-sex marriages, which is the goal of (the Proposition 8) plaintiffs, is more ambitious and far-reaching," he said. "For supporters of equal marriage, the wisest strategy would be to get a DOMA case up to the Supreme Court first."

Experts say the Golinski case could be the test, and all sides are preparing for that possibility. That includes Golinski and Cunninghis, who've had to explain all the buzz around their cause to their now 8-year-old son.

"It's challenging to do this in the public eye," Cunninghis said, tearing up as she looks across the kitchen table to Golinski. "We have a kid. And kids are all about what's fair. And he thinks this is really unfair."

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/samesexmarriage/ci_19421706

"Warren High student’s story on bullies is published"

This is an inspirational story. This young lady channeled her anguish from being bullied into publishing a short story about her experiences. I can't wait to see what she is able to accomplish as she grows!

Classmates called her fat and told her she looked like a beach ball. Efforts Natalie Danyus made to befriend her fellow students were rebuffed be cause her classmates “don’t play with fat people.”

Even though Danyus is now 14 and a freshman at Warren Township High School, the emotional pain from middle school bullies lingers for her.

“I didn’t understand why they would do that,” Danyus said. “It made me doubt myself. It made me feel like I wasn’t as smart as other kids, like I wasn’t as attractive.”

Danyus channeled her feelings into a short story titled “I’m Horrible!” This was recently published in international, intercultural magazine “Skipping Stones.”

“‘I hate myself!’ Were the words that usually came out of Mika’s mouth. She did hate herself so very much,” Danyus wrote in her story.

Her story was about a chubby girl who saw herself as flawed until after she had a nightmare.

Danyus said she still has problems from her bullying experiences. Sometimes she returns to her middle school counselor to talk.

She had bullying problems at H. R. McCall Elementary School, O’Plaine School and Viking, she said. She also said she experienced cyber bullying this past summer and still runs into problems in the halls of Warren Township High School.

“(Teachers) should elaborate on it (bullying) and try to find stops to it or really be watching the kids because they don’t know that bullying affects kids like me,” Danyus said.

She did sometimes approach teachers, who advised her to ignore it. Ignoring the bullying did not make it stop, Danyus said.

Her story about bullying was her first attempt (and success) at publishing her work.

She said she wants to write and publish adventure stories that explore concepts similar to her short stories. She is writing an adventure story centering on bullying.

“I just think Natalie is a good example. A lot of kids being bullied don’t respond by being creative — they respond in a self-destructive way,” Danyus’ uncle Charles Danyus of Zion said.

Source: http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/8767498-418/warren-high-students-story-on-bullies-is-published.html

300 Too Many

I agree on every point he made. Adults don't need role models, kids do. Based on the accent when Rick says "sorry" I'm going to assume this is from Canada. It applies universally.

Credit: http://rosslandsecondarylibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/teen-suicide-with-rick-mercer.html
Source: YouTube

10-year-old Jasmine McClain Hangs Herself Over Bullying

This poor child. And how her mother must be grieving right now. It's unfathomable that a 10 year old child would take her own life because of bullying.

While many see bullying as an adolescent rite of passage, for those who suffer through it, it’s almost unbearable. Over the past few years we’ve heard about several children and teens committing suicide because they couldn’t cope with the emotional trauma of being bullied.

Last week, Ashlynn Conner–a 5th grader from Illinois–was buried after she committed suicide, and in the same week, another 10-year-old, Jasmine McClain, took her own life because she was being bullied.

Jasmine McClain hung herself and died in her mother’s arms after incessant bullying in her North Carolina school. Jasmine’s mother, Samantha West, says her daughter was “sweet and loving” and she had no clue her child was under so much emotional distress.

“I just lost it because she took her last breath in my arms,” West said. “She was a loving child. I just don’t understand.”

After Jasmine’s suicide, many were looking for answers. After her death was ruled a suicide, police were preparing to close the case when they happened on a Facebook page created in her honor. After several messages indicated little Jasmine was bullied, police kept the investigation going.

Police Chief Steven Shaw said, ”Children started coming forward and making accusations that she was bullied – and bullied bad – in school.” He continued, ”Everyone that we have spoken to, there are little indicators – not huge indications – but small indications that she was not happy.”

According to WRAL: ”State lawmakers passed two anti-bullying laws two years ago. One made online bullying of children a misdemeanor, while the other required school districts to adopt policies to prohibit bullying without specifying the punishment for violators.”

So far, it’s unclear if anyone can be directly held responsible for Jasmine’s death, but it’s clear bullying was a major factor. Local police, as well as school officials, are investigating.

Source: http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2011/11/heartbreaking-10-year-old-jasmine-mcclain-hangs-herself-over-bullying/

TTU students taking stand against bullies

It's great to see college students taking action on an initiative they feel so strongly about.

COOKEVILLE -- Bullies. They're everywhere.

But a couple of Tennessee Tech University students are taking a stand, organizing a conference to help stop the havoc.

To pull it off, they'll need lots of help from the community -- presenters, speakers, parents, students and other volunteers interested in the cause.

Co-coordinator Justin Sweatman, who also serves as youth coalition coordinator for Power of Putnam, the county's local anti-drug coalition, has high hopes for the event. He said the issue of bullying ties back into the work of the coalition.

"There's a big correlation between substance abuse, bullying and violence in general," he said. "One doesn't cause the other, but they're related."

Sweatman said the idea for the conference came from fellow TTU student and event co-coordinator Shayne Bilbrey, a local activist and advocate for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) youth.

"His original intention was for it to just be about LGBT youth, but I expanded it to include minorities, sexual assault and cyber bullying," Sweatman said.

Several TTU groups are already on board to help in what is being called the Bully-Free in Tennessee Conference. The event is set for Jan. 20-22 on the campus of TTU.

"We are working with the Office of Minority Affairs, the Women's Center, as well as the psychology and society departments," Sweatman said. "We also have a huge partnership with the University Service Center. Michelle Huddleston, service coordinator, is going to be helpful in the entire process."

Sweatman and Bilbrey are also partnering with GLSEN Middle Tennessee (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.

"Any kind of youth-serving agency or education-related group is welcome to join the cause," Sweatman said.

That's why it's important to get the word out early -- so potential presenters, speakers, educators and volunteers can be making plans to participate.

"If you are an educator or a professional who deals with violence in schools or anything related to that, we would be overjoyed to receive a workshop or speaker proposal from you," Sweatman said.

Also needed are plenty of general participants, who will benefit from an entire day of workshops.

"And that's open to any student, parent, educator, activist -- anybody," Sweatman said. 

By the end of the day, participants will have designed their own action plans to improve bullying conditions in their schools. They'll also receive ongoing assistance for the implementation of those plans.

"We will keep in touch with them through April 20, which is Global Youth Service Day, and offer technical support and guidance," Sweatman said. "Then they will report back to us on any changes they see and how school administrations are handling the new systems."

A call also goes out for financial help for the conference. The estimated cost is $3,400, so Sweatman is asking for donations to cover food and other miscellaneous expenses. Community fundraisers are encouraged.

General volunteers are needed to assist during the conference too.

"We're looking at getting college students, but anybody is free to help," Sweatman said.

Why should Putnam County be interested in bullying?

"Because it affects everyone," Sweatman said. "Even if you're not a student or parent, you are still in a community where students are being bullied, and it's your responsibility."

And the conference isn't just for locals -- it's a statewide affair.

"Problems don't stop at county lines," Sweatman said. "Bullying is everywhere. But if we can start at home, maybe awareness will spread."

The main day of the conference is Saturday, Jan. 21, but Jan. 20 and 22 are also being utilized to help drive home the point.

"We just want to make a safer, friendlier environment so students have a better learning experience," Sweatman said.

Registration begins in mid-December and is $25 for the general public, $10 for college students not attending TTU, and free for all TTU students and middle and high school students in Tennessee.

Anyone interested in helping or needing more information may email stop.bullying.in.tennessee@gmail.com, visit facebook.com/TNBullyingConference or call Sweatman at 931-704-8814.

Read more: Herald Citizen - TTU students taking stand against bullies 

Source: http://www.herald-citizen.com/view/full_story/16570700/article-TTU-students-taking-stand-against-bullies?instance=latest_articles

Bullied boy speaks up for others

The reaction that the bullies have after the incident is perhaps what is most shocking about this whole event. Clearly they have no idea what they've done nor have any regrets. Twenty days suspension from school and being transferred to another school for the remainder of the year does nothing to teach these boys the consequences of their actions. Perhaps legal action would.

First Drew Herrmann felt anger, then shame. Now, after a traumatizing bullying episode at Hunter Middle School in September, he's simply afraid.

The shy, blue-eyed 13-year-old hides behind long brown hair as he talks. He doesn't want to talk about it, but if telling the story again protects him, then he will.

On Sept. 23, Herrmann was one of at least four students held down in the locker room by four other boys and beaten with a belt while another student took video on a cellphonelike recorder.

It happened as the boys were changing clothes to start morning physical education class, he said. It happened again as the boys changed at the end of the class.

Neither time was a teacher present.

"Right when I took my shorts off somebody came and said, 'Hey, over here.' Then two other boys grabbed me and held me down," he said. "One of them started hitting me with the belt, one videoed."

This was the first time it had happened to Drew, but it wasn't the first time that the group of boys had victimized fellow students. A subsequent police report revealed that the abuse had been going on for weeks.

Hunter Principal Robert Alford told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he couldn't comment on the individual incident. But he said the students responsible were punished. He said he couldn't disclose specific disciplinary actions because of student privacy.

Every day an estimated one in four children is bullied, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The issue has gained attention in Hamilton County and across the nation in recent years, spurred by violence and student suicides tied to bullying and the rising incidence of bullying via social media and the Internet.

Drew said nearly all of the 25 classmates were in the locker room when the incident began. He left after the boys finished hitting him and they targeted another victim.

School officials found out about the incident only after Drew told his mother, Tracy Sims, that Friday afternoon and she called Alford.

Alford met with Drew, his family and School Resource Officer James Naylor the following Monday.

After the meeting, in which Drew described the events, a sheriff's investigator questioned those involved and found out that the group belt-beatings had been going on since the start of the school year in August.

Names of the other alleged victims and perpetrators have been redacted from the police report and other documents because all are minors.

But the report says one boy was the primary aggressor. It says he giggled when he told police about the event, saying he "was just having fun" and that the group planned "these whippings in advance."

He told police that "no one would tell on him because 'people respect me and who I am so I can do what I want.'"

Apparently the intent was to post the video online, but officials don't believe it got that far. Police copied the video for evidence, then deleted it from the recording device.

Sims contacted Alford after the meeting, trying to learn what had happened to the accused boys. She got little to no information, she said, with school officials citing privacy laws.

Each day Drew heard rumors that the boys were coming back to school.

Parents of other victims also contacted the school and four of the five Sept. 23 victims gave information to police, which allowed the aggressors to be charged with assault in Juvenile Court.

Sims learned from other sources that the aggressors were suspended for 20 days and placed in alternative school until next semester. She wants them expelled.

At least one boy has threatened Drew on Facebook since the suspension.

On Oct. 13, one of the boys posted, "Drew I [expletive deleted] hate you."

Another person asked who Drew was.

"...man this drew Herman kid snitched on me for holding his legs up while my friend beat his [expletive] with a belt haha."

"I'm kickin that kids [expletive] when I see him."

Sims said she and her attorney, Ben McGowan, shared this with Hamilton County Schools lawyer Scott Bennett and were told that the Facebook threat didn't take place on school property and the school system doesn't have a duty to act.

"They've said nothing," Sims said.

Bennett did not return phone calls Monday or Tuesday.

Hamilton County school board Chairman Mike Evatt, who was contacted about the incident, said he looked into the matter and learned that punishments were issued. He was in contact with Sims until he received a letter from her lawyer, at which point he turned it over to the schools' own attorney, he said.

"I would rather not comment on it because it is a legal matter now," Evatt said.

The accused boys' parents can appeal the suspensions. Privacy policy prevents Sims from attending those appeals or offering her son's account unless asked by the appeals board.

The void of information has her frustrated, she said.

Even if the boys can't be expelled, even if she can't know specifics, the school can at least tell her and other parents what's being done to keep students safe and prevent future such offenses, she said.

McGowan said he has contacted the school and Bennett to learn what plans are in place to investigate bullying acts and protect victims but has received little response.

"Bullies flourish in a culture of silence, and the Legislature has figured that out; the parents have figured that out. Drew figured that out and had the guts to come forward," McGowan said. "And it seems like Hamilton County School District [representatives] are the only people yet to take a stand on this."

Source: http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/nov/27/bullied-boy-speaks-up-for-others/