Cyber Bullying

Lacey Jones- Cyber bullying is a very serious issue in the United States. It is the use to text message, instant message, social networking, and etc. to harass, threaten, or intimidate other people. With the growth of technology, cyber bullying is becoming more and more common. In fact, cyber bullying has now become worse than traditional bullying because are constantly being harassed by text messages and social networks making the bullying almost impossible to escape. More than 13 million children in the United States have reported being victim of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying victims are almost twice as likely to commit suicide than those who have never experienced cyber bullying. This statistic is extremely shocking to me. I cannot even begin to understand how someone can be so insensitive to another person. One of the most known stories of cyber bullying is the story of Megan Meier who committed suicide three weeks before her 14th birthday. Soon after Megan opened a MySpace account in 2006, she began to receive messages from supposedly a boy named "Josh." The messages were actually being sent by Lori Drew and her daughter using a fake account. Megan found "Josh" attractive and they began to spend a lot of time messaging one another. After a few weeks "Josh" began to send Megan messages saying no one likes her because she was mean to her friends. Megan responded with a message saying "You're the kind of guy a girl would kill herself over." Twenty minutes after the message was sent, Megan was found dead in her bedroom closet where she had hung herself. Several weeks after Megan's death, Megan's parents were informed that Lori Drew and her daughter had created the fake account to mess with Megan and see what Megan really thought about Lori's daughter. At last count in July 2010, 44 states have passed bullying laws and 30 of those states have included laws of electronic forms of harassment. However, there is no federal law against cyber bullying but one has been proposed. The first federal cyber bullying bill, Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act has made it to a House committee. The purpose of the bill is to "amend the federal crime code to impose criminal penalties on anyone who transmits in interstate or foreign commerce an intended to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to another person, using electrionical means to support serve, repeated, and hostile behavior." The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security but has not been voted on yet. All charges against Megan's harasser, Lori Drew, were later dropped because the law simply did not state anything about cyber bullying. Lori Drew was convicted of violating the MySpace terms of service, but a judge overturned the conviction because it would allow anyone who violated a websites terms of service to be prosecuted. How much more is it going to take before the United States steps up and realizes they need to do something more to make this stop? The Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention act will hold people responsible for their actions. If the Act is passed, cyber bullying will become a federal offense, cyber bullies will be charged and imprisoned for two or more years. I understand that by passing a federal law against cyber bullying, it will cost the country money, but to me its more important that these people be held responsible for what they have done rather than receiving a slap on the wrist. But until federal laws against cyber bullying are put in to action, it is important that parents monitor kids use to technology, as well as teach what to do if they are being bullied.

The Bully Epidemic

Children being bullied has become a huge problem in American society today. It occurs both in school, out of school, and even online. Children of all ages are exposed to it and there seems to be no escape. While I suspect that bullies have existed since the beginning of time, the media has just now caught on so the issue is finally receiving the attention it deserves. This issue needs to be addressed because it is unfair and irresponsible for an adult - whether that be a parent, teacher, or principal, to expect a child to enter into an environment in which they are constantly harassed and singled out on a daily basis. Not only are children forced to exist in these environments for most of the year but they are expected to be relaxed enough in the classroom to learn and thrive. Most people, let alone children are not capable of concentrating on anything else when they are in a defensive mode. Bullying needs to be addressed for the sake of the children on the receiving end as well as for the bullies themselves. Often bullies act the way they do because they have issues of their own and it is easier for them to take out aggression on someone else than to reflect on their own problems. If they are made to feel weak at home by a parent or older sibling then they show their strength at school or in their neighborhood by picking on their peers. As you can imagine, bullies can have a very distracting effect on classrooms making the teachers' jobs that much harder. If standards were set through public policy for the prevention of bullying in American schools, I believe that classrooms would be a much more effective learning environment raising test scores and self-esteem in students simultaniously. This policy could begin by inacting mandatory anti-bullying seminars for teachers, school counselors and principals. These seminars should cover how to identify a bully, how to stop one in their tracks, and how to prevent the situation alltogether. They should also be age-specific for elementary, middle, and high schools. With a government enforced anti-bullying policy in effect for all of America's school systems, classrooms will be a much safer and more effective environment for children academically and personally.

The Growing Trend of Childhood Obesity and the Needed Response of Public School Lunch Programs

The obesity epidemic is an issue that has been gaining awareness in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has increased about 17% since the period between 1976 and 1980 nationally. The CDC also reports that the southern region has the highest prevalence of obesity, which includes adults also. The concerns surrounding obesity are health risks and chronic disease, including those such as Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has long been regarded as an adult disease. However, in recent years the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in children has been rising. This has implications for much larger issues. Chronic disease is a strain on the individual as well as the health care system. Prevention of such health conditions should be considered a hot topic. One avenue of addressing a portion of the issue of obesity in children is the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program. In December of 2010, President Obama signed a child nutrition reauthorization bill, entitled the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act (The School Nutrition Association). This Act will allow schools to do many things to improve school lunches, including establishing nutritional standards for foods served to children, provide funding for 'Farm-to-School' programs, and increase the Federal reimbursement for lunches (Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act, 2010). Currently, Tennessee has implemented a program that schools can choose to use, which requires the provision of fresh fruits and vegetables to school children (The Tennessee State Department of Education). When considering the obesity trends for the United States it would seem that this would be a mandated program for all schools in Tennessee. If the question is reimbursement, then President Obama has answered that for the school system. The basic concept of weight is easily understood. Consuming more calories than you burn causes weight gain. The trouble is not the formula. The trouble is with the options. Given the option would a child choose an apple or applesauce with added corn syrup sweeteners? Would they choose a grilled chicken breast on a whole wheat bun or processed, modified chicken nuggets? We know the answer to that. At my home there is not a second option for dinner. I believe in the old saying 'you are what you eat.' My children would prefer a happy meal over a mommy meal any day. The dilemma suggested by my mother,who is an elementary school teacher, is that the children won't eat healthy foods. I suppose we should just throw our hands in the air and give in to chronic disease that will shorten the lives of many of the children most at risk. Many studies regarding school lunch programs have been published. Many schools are sucessfully elevating standard to really provide nutrition. Experts tell us that improving eating habits is necessary for the wellness of children, yet many are lagging behind. Reconstructing the food pyramid on a poster is not sufficient action for reconstructing the food pyramid of American family dinner tables. This is a larger issue that involves education for everyone. Who wants to have a chronic disease? Society can answer this issue by mandating nutritional standards for all schools. This should include the removal of all low nutritional, high calorie foods. Having this mandate would mean that skilled program planners would need to provide a feasible way to implement this policy, but it can be done. In addition, we should be educating our children about the true importance of nutrition. We need to develop creative ways to interest children in nutrition and wellness. We need to develop programs and policy that delivers real nutrition to our children, even if this means taking stand against mega corporations that stand to lose a profit from healthier choices. Who knows we may have a healthier America one day.

We've got a goal, let's get a plan

During the President's State of the Union Address on Tuesday January 25th, he said the future of America's jobs would require higher education. He went on to say, "America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree." I admire the goal that higher education must be within the reach of every American, that by 2020 the President hopes America will be in the top ranked spot for college graduates. This is a great goal, but how are we going to get there? The $10,000 tax credit for four years is a great step, but only if the cost of tuition remains stable. The Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S Department of Higher Education, "ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federal assistance for education beyond high school" (federalstudenaid.edu.gov). This is where I have personally experienced a problem...to be eligible for federal aid, the figure is based off your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). I have been considered a dependent, even though I moved out before I was eighteen because my parent's house was foreclosed on. My parents have had to put their information on my FASFA, even though my mother has been unemployed since 2007 and my father has worked in a significantly lower position, to just have a job, since he was laid off for sixteen months. Yet somehow the EFC formula calculated my parents, that don't even have their own place to live, as contributing over $15,000 a year towards my education. My parents have not been able to help me, and despite countless communication to the school, my state legislation, and even the federal government I have not been heard. I think it is wonderful, the idea of the federal government helping support higher education endeavors. I just think as in the words of our President, "anything can be improved." We must make sure tuition costs are stable, that we understand private funding is decreasing and more students are expected to enroll, we must take strides to make sure the formulas for distributing funds don't cause more harm than good, and make sure we are making constant improvements to make the higher education system better for the people of the United States of America.