How do we go forward? How do we balance our creativity with real world challenges? The //Building Imagination Alliance is just beginning, and YOU decide which quality of life issues it tackles next!
Modesto’s budget deficit rises to $12M
Modesto’s projected budget shortfall has swelled to $12 million, up from the $8 million to $10 million leaders anticipated earlier this year.
Officials will spend the next month hammering out how to bridge the spending gap in the $103 million general fund, which pays for police, fire, parks and other quality of life services.
The deficit grew after some departments failed to meet revenue goals, said Mayor Jim Ridenour. He declined to say which departments.
Modesto recently received one piece of better budget news: Sales tax revenue in the last quarter of 2009 met projections. That’s important because sales tax is the city’s biggest source of general fund revenue. Those dollars have dried up as the economic decline has kept shoppers out of stores.
Ridenour and City Manager Greg Nyhoff have asked department heads to paint a picture of how potential cuts would affect their operations. They’re asking all department leaders to prepare scenarios cutting 3 percent, 5 percent, 7 percent and 10 percent of their budgets.
Ridenour said he also asked departments to show him what 8 percent cuts to personnel budgets would look like.
“That gives me a good idea of where we would be if we just laid a bunch of people off, which we’re not going to do, but we wanted to see what it would look like,” Ridenour said.
In the Police Department, even the smallest level of cuts would mean losing employees, said Chief Mike Harden.
“At the end of the day, to get that target, it’s personnel costs, which make up about 80 percent of my entire budget,” Harden said. “We’ve had to offer up both sworn and civilian staff alike.”
Harden said it’s too early to say how many employees, if any, the Police Department could lose.
He and other officials will know more after the city completes negotiations with employee unions. All of those groups skipped pay raises last year except the police officers union.
The city will hold a series of public budget workshops in May. Ridenour is scheduled to present his proposed budget to the City Council in early June. The city’s new budget year starts July 1.
Modesto ranks near bottom in another quality-of-life survey
Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health? Not so much, Gallup says
[Feb. 17, 2010]
Modesto ranks near the bottom of another national survey rating the quality of life among metropolitan areas.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that came out Tuesday ranked Modesto 130th among the 134 small and mid-size metropolitan areas in the United States. The Fort Smith, Ark., area ranked last while Boulder, Colo., was No. 1.
Among large metro areas, San Jose was tops and Brimingham, Ala., was at the bottom.
Time for that ‘vision thing’
What’s next, Modesto?
“It might be time to talk about the vision thing again,” said former Mayor Carol Whiteside.
Should that mayor be someone who keeps the lights on and the budget balanced, reflecting realistic goals as Modesto emerges from the recession?
Should the city’s next leader shake up the powerful, as Sabatino did?
Or should a mayor have that “vision thing” to project a Modesto that wouldn’t keep turning up on lists of miserable places to live?
Whiteside’s looking for the latter.
“As we come out of the recession, we ought to be talking about quality of life … the package of things you expect from a city this size,” she said.
After seven years, Ridenour’s fingerprints are all over City Hall.
During his tenure, the city dealt with unsexy subjects such as a sewer plant expansion while keeping the budget balanced in the worst economy since the Great Depression. He pivoted the city to embrace regionalized and privatized services to save taxpayers’ cash.
Ridenour’s council also accomplished a couple of political reforms that Sabatino wanted but couldn’t build a consensus to execute: raising the pay of elected officials and instituting district elections for council races. Those changes could open Modesto to new political voices over time.
Ridenour did the work without drawing much attention to himself, a counterpoint to Sabatino’s years when council meetings sometimes lasted past midnight, for good or ill.
But the council with Ridenour has been the opposite of Sabatino’s in another way. Unlike the bunch who sat on the council with Sabatino, the current group can give residents the impression that it’s an exclusive body whose members disagree over little aside from zoning disputes.
Two council members likely are going to run for mayor next year, and the field could open up with candidates with business or public safety backgrounds.
City Councilman Brad Hawn has both feet in the mayor’s race, and Councilman Garrad Marsh is rumored to be getting ready to run, too. They have virtually indistinguishable voting records on the council, but they have different politics and different bases on which to draw if they follow through.
Hawn is a Republican, an artist, an engineer, and he’s the guy who takes on some of the grunt work on utilities and budgets on the council.
Marsh is a Democrat, a supporter of nonprofit groups, the owner of McHenry Bowl, and he’s best known for advocating slow-growth policies.
Next year, rake ‘em over the coals and get them to tell you, “What’s next, Modesto?”
Are there ways to increase the options we have for providing recreational services and enhancing the lifestyles of Modesto and area citizens? How can we infuse more play into our own individual lives, and help other get out and play? In which areas can community involvement improve a bleak situation?
QUALITY OF LIFE CHALLENGE
- REVIEW – You have educated yourself about many of Modesto’s quality of life issues in your earlier missions. How can you pass that knowledge on to others?
- ACT – What can you do about it? Help us decide:
- WHICH great challenges and social problems should the /Building Imagination Alliance tackle next?
- WHO would you encourage to play Season 2?
- HOW would you change the game for Season 2?
- WHAT new tools would you want as a Super Hero?
- WHY would you come back for a second Season? What more would you want from the experience?
- IMAGINE – Unleash your creativity. Work alone, or in teams. Use this week’s investigation file as a template for a new mission — and share your mission proposal a blog post, image or video. I will choose my favorite ideas from the mission proposals to create the first mission of Season 2. So post a link to your best, most creative ideas in the comments below — and help write the next great adventure for the network.
- Ask A Mentor for Help
Visionary Heroes:
FIERCE DREAMER:
Mission 9: Full Circle
Review:
So it appears that my days as a super hero were numbered, but I must say that I had a blast with conquering all these missions. It only seems right that I Fierce Dreamer step out of the lime-light and allow some other super hero to shine bright. I mean I can’t be a super hero forever right? I conquered all I set out to accomplish and I wish the new coming super heroes well. Before I go on an extended vacation I want to give you upcoming heroes words of advice. The first one being step up and help to your full potential, and don’t be afraid to be creative with your ideas, because you never know what good can come from it. I mean if anything these missions helped me stay aware of all the local issues that are going on. I challenge anyone who wants to make a change in the world to partake in these missions.
Let’s start off with an issue thats serious and deadly:
Modesto police nab 22 suspected drunk drivers
With roving saturation patrols and a DUI checkpoint over the Halloween weekend, Modesto police nabbed 22 suspected drunk drivers.Extra patrols started Friday and led to four arrest. Eleven of the offenders were caught Saturday night at a DUI checkpoint on I Street between Sixth and Seventh streets. Five others were arrested by patrol unitsActivity slowed on Halloween with just two DUI arrests.The enforcement effort was funded by a state Office of Traffic Safety grant.
Modesto woman killed by suspected drunk driver
Bee Staff Reports
CERES — A Modesto woman pushing a shopping cart in Ceres was killed Tuesday night by a suspected drunk driver, according to the Ceres Police Department. Penny Hinckley, 47, was walking with her brother south on Rockefeller Drive northeast of Whitmore Avenue and Highway 99 when a white Jeep Cherokee crossed over from the northbound lane and struck her about 8:40 p.m. Her brother suffered a minor injury.
She was treated at the scene and taken to Doctors Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead
The driver, Jimmy Lee Dickinson, 33, of Ceres, is suspected of being under the influence of drugs and-or alcohol, according to police. His car came to a stop on the east side of the road in a planter east of the sidewalk. He remained at the scene after the accident. He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter and is being held in Stanislaus County Jail on $100,000 bail, police said.
‘Drunk’ driver hits ambulance
An allegedly drunk and unlicensed motorist has driven the wrong way across a major intersection in Sydney’s south-west and smashed into a passing ambulance.
Police say the man’s blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit, he had been unlicensed for a decade and a search revealed he was carrying cannabis.
The crash occurred as the man sought to negotiate the intersection between Smithfield Road and Elizabeth Drive at Edensor Park about 11.15pm yesterday.
“The man was allegedly driving a red Ford Falcon sedan south on Smithfield Road … [when] at the intersection of Elizabeth Drive, the man’s vehicle allegedly mounted a median strip,” police said.
The vehicle then crossed two eastbound lanes of traffic, before colliding with the ambulance that was passing in one of two westbound lanes.
Two ambulance officers suffered minor injuries and shock.
The man was taken to Fairfield police station, where he returned a breath analysis of .205.
He now faces charges of high-range drink-driving, negligent driving, being an unlicensed driver and possessing a prohibited drug.
He was granted conditional bail to appear in Fairfield Local Court on November 11.
Drunk Driving Statistics
US Drunk Driving Statistics
Drunk Driving accidents claim lives at the rate of one every 39 minutes in the United States, based on the most recent data available (13,470 deaths in 2006 in crashes caused by DUI drivers with a BAC at or above 0.08 percent). A quick review of some additional drunk driving facts for the United States (also from 2006) shows that all drivers are at risk when drunk drivers are on the road.
* Tragically, the 13,470 fatalities in 2006 caused by DUI drivers were slightly higher than the 13,451 fatalities caused by DUI drivers in 1996. One would hope that a decade of Public Service Announcements, education in high schools and defensive driving schools, as well as work by community groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) would have lessened the fatal impact of drunk driving.
* In 2006, one-third of all automobile fatalities were caused by DUI drivers with a BAC at or above 0.08 percent.
* If one looks at all automobile fatalities in which alcohol was a factor (drivers with a BAC at or above just 0.01 percent), the death toll rises to 16,005 people killed. These are called alcohol-related deaths, as opposed to DUI deaths or drunk driving deaths.
* Of the 1,794 minors (age 14 and below) who were killed in motor vehicle crashes, 306 (or almost one in five) occurred in alcohol-related accidents. Of those 306 fatalities, the minors riding with drivers who had a BAC at or above 0.08 percent made up one-half (153) of the fatalities.
* Several trends are observable when studying drunk driving statistics:
o DUI drivers (those with a Blood Alcohol Content at or above 0.08 percent) were most often driving motorcycles (27 percent), then light trucks (24 percent), then passenger cars (23 percent). Of all DUI drivers, the lowest fatality rate occurred in large trucks (just one percent). The data does not reveal if drivers of larger vehicles are less likely to drive drunk, or if they are just less likely to die in the accident due to the vehicle they are operating.
o DUI drivers are more four times more likely to be male than female.
o Traffic deaths at night are four times likelier to be alcohol-related (i.e. caused by a driver with a BAC at or above 0.01 percent) than those during the day.
o Of all traffic deaths in 2006 caused by drivers with a BAC at or above 0.08 percent, the majority of those drivers were age 21 to 24 (33 percent), followed by those age 25 to 34 (29 percent), and then age 35 to 44 (25 percent).
Learn: What are the risk that drunk drivers bring? Who is considered to be a drunk driver? What organizations are against drunk driving?
http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/DrinkingAndDriving.html
http://www.madd.org/
Act: What actions can be taken to prevent drunk drivers? What is already being done to stop drunk drivers?
Imagine: Through the use of super powers how has drunk driving been prevented 5 years from now? Use images to help show how drunk driving is being prevented.
I’ll add some photos once I get my beauty sleep…
http://buggerallthis.blogspot.com/2010/11/sad-sacks-last-mission-this-is-end-my.html
Sad Sack’s Last Mission: This is the end my friends…
One last hello, minions. As I recline here on my ragged couch watching Ernest Saves Christmas on the Hallmark Channel (it’s either this or a Proactive commercial), I can’t help but wonder “What’s this wet stuff seeping from my eyeballs?” Surely, it can’t be tears of sadness? I guess I just can’t believe that three months have already come and gone and, though I did most of the talking here, I feel like we were just getting acquainted. I was just getting used to your anonymous faces. I feel empty, poppets. I guess the only thing to do is look back at these missions and try to figure out if we did any good…and maybe think of something else we can do to help our city in the future.
LEARN/REVIEW
I’m not sure if I really understand the format of this week’s mission, but here’s a quick synopsis of our past missions and proposed solutions:
1. Education. The city’s cutting funds, teachers, programs (particularly the arts) and overcrowding classrooms. The Solution was to appeal to the community, bring in senior and local volunteers…and appeal to the city for more funding.
2. Employment. Modesto has twice the national unemployment rate and high crime. No solutions were settled on, I wanted to keep local businesses from leaving the country and wait it out.
3. Safety and Personal Empowerment. Modesto’s really cut down on law enforcement and fire department personnel. The solution was to start a citizen bike patrol, neighborhood watch and virtual tip line.
4. Healthcare. Healthcare costs are astronomical and there may not be enough doctors to fill future demand. We wanted to provide healthy school lunches, start community gardens and make the neighborhood safe for walking…and appeal to the city more funding.
5. Housing. Foreclosure rates are way up and home values are way down. Foreclosure hurts the whole community. My solutions were to try and prevent foreclosures by renegotiating loans and counseling home owners and also to help people ousted from their homes into new places.
6. Transportation. I learned (after reading the other heroes’ experiences) that although there seems like a lot of transportation options in Modesto, the buses down come very often and they stop running early. There also no decent bike paths available. I proposed to fix the bike paths and increase the buses. So…another appeal to the city for funding.
7. Leisure. People never go outside and play anymore, they spend their free time online or watching TV. This leads to depression, higher crime rates and a decline in social capital. I decided to reinstate park funding by crunching the budget numbers and I also wanted to start a sort of family campfire program in the parks.
8. Entertainment. This mission dealt with the artistic and entertainment venues available in town. Apparently, amateur art outlets contribute to a good society. I wanted to help by encouraging student murals, radio shows and poetry readings.
Now that I’m more informed on the ills that plague Modesto, it would make sense to pass this information along. I can think of a lot of ways of getting the message out: city meetings, blogging on the Modesto Bee website, radio shows, podcasts, flyers, emails, phone banks, the list goes on…to me the problem is really about getting people to care about the issues.
ACT
I think the Building Imagination Alliance should tackle Apathy. Yes apathy. Our biggest enemy is ourselves – we don’t care. We are conscious of the problems, but we aren’t concerned by them. Perhaps it’s the anonymity of our culture; the shielded one-sided interaction of the internet has made all our experiences virtual and, therefore, unreal. Whatever the cause, I know that the ills of the world do not touch me at all. It’s scary being unable to care about something important.
I would encourage younger people to take part in this mission. They have a lot of raging chemicals and hormones bubbling all up in them that I think could be channeled into actual passion. The only way I would change the game would be to open it up to a larger audience.
The only extra tools I can think of wanting would be courage, a heart, a brain and a way home (I get my inspiration from various places)…well, definitely courage and heart. I would come back for season two to offer guidance and answer any questions new heroes may pose.
IMAGINE
Ah, well, here’s the point where I imagine the next big mission, here goes…
Oh no! Something terrible has happened in Modesto! A terrible sleeping spell seems to have blanketed its citizens in a walking dream. People move about their daily business only half-awake. All around them, the city crumbles; schools, jobs, personal safety, healthcare, housing, transportation, leisure and entertainment are in turmoil. Don’t they see? Why don’t they care? What can we do to cure our citizens of this outbreak of APATHY?
LEARN – Educate yourself about the many problems plaguing our city. Why aren’t the people of Modesto angry? What’s causing this mass APATHY?
ACT – What can you do about it? Use your own self-described super powers to light fires under the asses of our community. What can you do to wake people up?
IMAGINE – Unleash your creativity. Tell us how you were able to spark passion for local issues in your friends and neighbors.
That’s all minions, I’ll miss you.
Sad Sack out!
http://corruptangeldiary.blogspot.com/2010/11/mission-9-passin-torch.html
Mission 9: Passin’ the Torch
Well we have come full circle and it is almost time for the next generation of super heroes to take over. Gotta say this super hero is going to miss savin’ Modesto’s butt. The holidays are approaching and I can see a new crisis on the horizon. Lots of people in our own backyard are experiencing this problem and it’s making an impact on the citizenry’s quality of life. What can it be you ask? It’s simple, but devastating…… hunger.
Think this is someone else’s problem? Can’t possibly affect us locally? How’s this for local?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Stanislaus University sees a need for a food pantry on campus
By: Rocio Luna
Issue date: 9/29/10 Section: News
Due to the overwhelming results of a survey of students in March of 2010, Associated Students, Inc. and the Hunger Network club have decided to open a campus food pantry service.
732 male and female students participated in the survey. A primary purpose of the survey was to find out how many students forgo meals due to lack of money. The results were alarming.
The majority of affected individuals are full-time, off campus students living in Turlock. Since the majority are full-time students, it is harder for them to manage a full-time job that would help them pay for food.
The survey asked the students if they had ever gone without a meal for a day because money was an issue: 44.2% of the students responded yes and 55.8% responded no. However, when they were asked if they knew someone that had gone without a meal a day because of the lack of money, 56.1% said yes.
These shocking answers were of great concern to new ASI President Inner Pahal. Pahal talked to some of his colleagues about this situation and eventually mentioned it to Christian Duran, former president of the Hunger Network club at California State University, Stanislaus. When Pahal met with them to tell them about the food pantry project, they took the lead.
Duran said: “We have received three emails of students in desperate need of food. One of the students said that he was thinking of going back home because he could no longer afford to buy food and the other things; the other two were in a very desperate need of it.”
The Hunger Network, in preparing to open the food pantry, has had to do a lot of research. According to Duran, last summer the organization visited the CSU, Fresno food pantry in order to ask questions, see how they run, and see what kind of other services they offer. Unlike the Bulldog Food Pantry of Fresno State, the CSU, Stanislaus food pantry will be the first one to be located on campus on any public institution.
The location of the food pantry has not yet been confirmed, but Hunger Network is working hard to get approval to use a room inside the Student Services Office. The club is also waiting for a business letter approval, the approval from the school’s 501(c) (3) code, and the confirmation of the location to start this program.
Duran mentioned that if everything goes well, the food pantry may open Spring 2011
“We want to start little by little. We want to start with about thirty students and we’ll go from there depending on the turn out,” Duran said.
There are elements of the program yet to be worked out. But what is certain is that many people, including faculty and members of the community, are offering their assistance with this project. Donations to the food pantry will be accepted from anyone. They prefer monetary donations to buy more food at a local food bank. However, they will not turn their backs on canned or any other types of donated food.
This isn’t a new problem for Modesto…..the city’s people have been hungry for some time
__________________________________________________________________________________
Modesto, Calif., food bank steps up efforts to assist needy
Nov 24, 2008 (The Modesto Bee – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) –
With a faltering economy pushing demand up and donations down, Inter-Faith Ministries food bank is extending its effort to collect donations for needy families this holiday season.
Inter-Faith Ministries hopes to keep its food drive going through Christmas, said executive director Lynis Chaffey. The drive originally was scheduled to end Sunday.
While no hard numbers were available Sunday, Chaffey said donations seem to be down. Meanwhile, demand is escalating daily. At Inter-Faith Ministries’ Kerr Avenue food pantry, more than 100 people a day have been lining up to receive free groceries. In past years, the pantry has served about 60 or 70 people a day, said Chaffey
To help meet that demand, Inter-Faith launched its first-ever “Can Do” food drive this year, setting up donation barrels for canned goods and other nonperishable food items at several grocery stores and U.S. Bank branches.
Results were mixed. At Trader Joe’s, the barrels were removed after two weeks because people dropped more trash than food into the donation bins, said store supervisor Steve Galvez.
“You can really tell that people are — no matter what type of income level — they’re watching their pennies,” said Jerome Newton, the assistant store manager at O’Brien’s Market in Riverbank. “We’ve had some donations, but nothing like we would have hoped to see for them.”
Other drop-off locations reported better results.
“Our barrels are doing great,” said Terri Jacobs, manager of Grocery Outlet on Prescott Road. Jacobs said donations seem steady, with one of the store’s employees pitching in $100 worth of food toward the effort.
Chaffey said some larger-scale donations are helping fill part of the giving gap. A partnership with Weight Watchers yielded about 1,200 pounds of food and students at Central Catholic High School gathered close to 2,000 pounds. Foster Farms donated 400 frozen turkeys that will be distributed to needy families for Thanksgiving dinners.
Even with those contributions, Chaffey said meeting the needs of everyone who needs help this year will be difficult. Inter-Faith Ministries has seen a marked increase in the number of first-time users of its charitable services — a sign that economic woes are reaching into more and more families’ pocketbooks, said Chaffey.
Last month, about 35 percent of Inter-Faith Ministries’ clients had never sought services from the agency before.
“That’s a huge number of people that have never faced unemployment and never faced not having enough money to pay for food,” said Chaffey. “I think with the holidays, things will become more difficult. There will be increases in utility expenses and increases in job uncertainty.”
Hunger affects the whole nation…
__________________________________________________
New USDA Report: National Hunger Reaches Record High
BY POPPY PEMBROKE, ON NOVEMBER 15TH, 2010
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA) reported today that more than 50 million Americans, including more than 17 million children, are food insecure – meaning they lack consistent access to a nutritious, well-balanced diet. The findings are based on data collected by the government in December, 2009.
The report, Household Food Insecurity in the United States, is a sobering snapshot of the pervasiveness of hunger in our nation. The report shows that child hunger remains critically high. Nearly 1 in 4 children was at risk of hunger in 2009.
This report is based on data from the December 2009 food security survey which provides the most recent statistics on the food security of U.S. households, how much households spent on food, and the extent to which food insecure households participated in federal and community food assistance programs.
Key Highlights:
* In 2009, 50.2 million (16.6%) Americans lived in food insecure households.
* In 2009, 17.4 million (14.7 %) American households were food insecure.
* In 2009, 8.4 million (21.3%) households with children were living in food insecure households.
* In 2009, 17.2 million (23.2%) children were living in food insecure households.
* In 2009, 2.2 million (7.5%) households with seniors were living in food insecure households.
* In 2009, 884,000 (7.8%) seniors living alone were living in food insecure households.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Learn:Now that we know a little bit about this livability issue, what can we do to educate ourselves about hunger issues? How have others made themselves more aware?
Act: My days as a super hero have come to a close and I leave it to you, future super hero types, to discover new ways to assist Modesto’s hungry. Go out and discover: What solutions exist? How have people extended a helping hand?
How has Modesto came together to address the issue?
Imagine: Ok super heroes, go test those newly discovered super hero powers to help Modesto’s hungry. Be as creative as you want to solve the problem and make people more aware of the issue!
http://supermom4life.blogspot.com/2010/11/mission-10-teens-in-danger.html
Mission 9: Teens In Danger
Jardine: More must be done about teen bullying
Jeff Jardine, October 24, 2010
A Beyer High freshman was cornered earlier this month by numerous other students who spewed anti-gay invective at him before some friends came to his rescue. One hit him in the back of the head with an apple.
The victim isn’t gay — not that it should matter.
Every kid has the absolute right to go to school without fear of physical or emotional humiliation regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion or any other characteristic.
District officials refused to say how many students — if any — were disciplined following that incident.
At an area charter school, (not associated with Modesto City Schools), a seventh- grader told a sheriff’s deputy she was sexually assaulted by a schoolmate after she refused to date him, and then bullied by a girl who witnessed and encouraged the incident. The deputy ultimately determined no crime had been committed. The school handled the issue through its normal discipline process.
The victim transferred to another school.
Bullying has become a major issue in schools across the nation, including those in Modesto and other districts in Stanislaus County. And it’s gotten worse through text messaging and the Internet’s social media, where bullying is fueled in cyberspace and boils over once the students get to school.
Nationwide, five teens committed suicide in September alone in the United States after being harassed by schoolmates because they were gay or perceived as being gay. In one instance, a 13-year-old Texas boy killed himself after his classmates taunted him by imitating gay sex acts in his physical education class.
The boy’s parents said they complained to school officials repeatedly about the bullying, through phone calls and visits to the campus. After he died, the school district issued a statement claiming they’d received no complaints. Who do you believe?
Prodded by board President Kimberly Spina, Modesto City Schools district officials are revisiting policies first instituted in 1996 in an attempt to crack down on such boorish and unacceptable behavior.
“It has to stop,” said Spina, who has invested time and resources in search of solutions.
She and other district officials attended a recent meeting organized by Michael McKibban, president of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, who plans to meet with other school officials in coming weeks.
And Friday, Superintendent Arturo Flores sent parents a letter describing what the Modesto district is doing and has done to keep the kids safe, along with resources available at the schools and in the community. It appears to be a well-lawyered piece, but it lacks oomph.
Here’s the missing oomph:
It lists no consequences. The letter does not address what will happen to a student caught bullying another. Nor does it demand accountability from parents to make sure their children behave at school.
Maybe Flores didn’t want to come off sounding like a bully. After all, October is Anti-Bullying Month. (And his letter didn’t go out until the 22nd … why?)
Bullying generally is something kids learn at home. If they’re browbeating and intimidating others, it’s often because it’s practiced in the home. Consequently, they’ll they take their frustrations out on someone they perceive as weaker at school.
If they make anti-gay remarks or racial slurs, you can pretty much bet they’re learning it from the masters themselves.
Flores does cite the district’s Safe Schools Policy that requires “each principal, classroom teacher and staff member to take responsibility for safeguarding students.” (Let’s amend it to include all administrators.)
The problem is that bullying issues can fester below the radar of teachers and administrators for months if not years before surfacing.
Randy Fillpot, Modesto City Schools’ associate superintendent for grades 7-12, recalls being a school principal and talking with two girls — one the bully, the other victim.
“They talked about the looks they were getting from each other,” he said. “We asked, ‘When did this start?’ They answered, ‘Kindergarten.’ ”
Victims often let verbal bullying continue for fear that by reporting it, the bullying will escalate into physical violence. Or they simply are too humiliated to admit they’re being bullied.
No matter. It needs to end. Every child has the right to learn in a safe environment, free of intimidation and bullying.
The policy says so. Unfortunately, some thuggy kids disagree.
‘Wired’ at the Gallo Center puts a spotlight on cyber-bullying
Christopher Renteria, October 28, 2010
In a society where nearly every high schooler and almost all middle school students have cell phones, or even laptops, cyber-bullying is becoming more and more prevalent.
However, that was not the case 10 years ago when the word “bully” simply served as the word to call the kid who took your lunch money every morning. No, the word “bully” has been taken to whole new level with the use of the Internet and text messaging. A recent study shows that roughly 83 percent of all teens have at least one social networking account such as a Facebook or MySpace and that nearly 70 percent of all teens have admitted to cyber-bullying someone.
With the rise of technology comes the new term “cyber-bully,” which is someone who bullies others with the use of technology. Just under a year ago, the once-popular Web site formspring.me, which was designed as a site where anyone could ask you questions anonymously, quickly turned into a site where people could tell you everything they hate about you. It eventually became one of the top places where teens were being cyber-bullied.
cyber-bullying. The production — called “Wired” — takes the stage Friday at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are available to school students and teachers grades six through 12 for $5 and may be purchased at the Center’s ticket office by calling 338-2100 or online at http://www.galloarts.org/.
Cynthia Cifuentes, the marketing and public relations manager at the Gallo Center for the Arts, said it is important for teens to talk about the issues dealing with cyber-bullying and the impact it can have. She also said that the play is primarily targeted at high school students and that “Wired” helps bring cyber-bullying to the surface in a more approachable way.
“It is important as an arts organization to address all aspects of what is prevalent in our community, and the production ‘Wired’ is the perfect platform to address all of these issues,” she said.
In “Wired,” Damien, is an unnoticed teen. He transforms into a cooler version of himself through online role-playing games, social networking sites and a multitude of virtual friends. However, when Damien has a seemingly innocent run-in with a girl at school, he finds himself in the cross-hairs of a humiliating cyber-bullying campaign.
Tawni Rae, a junior at Pitman High School, said she thinks cyber-bullying “is the most horrible way to try and get your feelings across to someone. It allows them to bully without confrontation and you never know the emotion of the bully or the one being bullied because you obviously can’t see them or hear them.”
Audrey Mondragon, a senior at Turlock High School, said, “People cyber-bully because they’re too scared and insecure to say it to the person’s face.”
Taylor Knox, a recent Oakdale High School graduate, said, “Cyber communication inspires a sense of false confidence, plus you can be whoever you want to be online.”
Survey shows technology worsening teen bullying
Ching-Ching Ni, October 27, 2010
If your teenagers complain about being bullied in school, they have plenty of company, according to a new study.
Half of all high school students surveyed said they have bullied someone in the last year and nearly half said they have been the target of bullying, teasing or taunting in ways that seriously upset them.
The study by the Westchester-based Josephson Institute of Ethics released Tuesday used a large sample of more than 43,000 high school students from private and public institutions nationwide.
The results come on the heels of some high-profile youth suicides, including a Rutgers University freshman who jumped off a bridge after roommates posted video on the Internet of him having sex with another man. The survey shows technology and the Internet have worsened the effect of bullying.
“The Internet has intensified the injury. What’s posted on the Internet is permanent, and it spreads like a virus — there is no refuge,” Michael Josephson, founder and president of the institute, said in a statement.
In addition to verbal and cyber abuse, one in four students reported feeling unsafe in school. More than half said they hit someone within the last year because they were angry.
Ten percent said they took a weapon to school and 16% said they have been intoxicated at school.
We are hearing more and more about the dangers of teen bullying in the media. Almost 30 percent of teens in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in school bullying as either a bully, a target of teen bullying, or both. What can we do the help the teenagers of Modesto?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Teens in Danger Challenge
*LEARN – Educate yourself about teen bullying, the types and its effects on our youth.
*ACT – What can you do about it? Using your own self-described super powers, help stop teen bullying in our community. Tell us how you would empower teens today.
*IMAGINE – Unleash your creativity. Tell us how you were able to help ease the fear in our community and put a stop to teen bullying.