Gunfire at elementary school shatters Chapel Hill’s feeling of safety

Last Friday the quiet tranquility of Chapel Hill on a warm spring afternoon was pierced by the sirens of emergency vehicles rushing to the scene of a crisis. Through my office window, I saw a parade of fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances drive by in quick succession. Something was clearly going on, more than a fire drill, I thought, but nothing prepared me for the news that there was a shooting at the elementary school only two blocks away. That was all that we knew at first: there was... Read more

Five Actions Adults Can Take NOW to Protect Kids From Bullying

This is the third in a three-part series of posts since watching the “Bully” documentary. My “Bully” movie review called for the need to turn “watching the movie into positive action.” It’s clear that people need practical solutions and actions that they can take to help stop bullying. Here’s a place to start: As the movie “Bully” shows, the misery caused by bullying is an emergency. Emergencies require urgent action. If every adult were to take the following five actions... Read more

“Bully”: Can Watching This Powerful Movie Make a Difference?

While watching the movie “Bully,” I was deeply saddened by the vivid stories about the suffering, despair, and everlasting grief caused by bullying. The filmmakers have made an outstanding tool for building awareness and motivating people to feel that bullying is unacceptable. This intimate look into the lives of families devastated by the loss of kids who have taken their lives after being bullied, the struggles of kids dealing with bullying, and the frustration of their parents, is... Read more

Kidpower response to the documentary “Bully”–part 1 of 3

One occupational hazard of teaching “People Safety” skills is that I cannot watch a movie without wanting to coach the characters to make better choices. I would not have been able to endure the filming and directing necessary to create a movie like “Bully.” Instead, I would have felt compelled to try to change the stories as they were unfolding in front of me by providing guidance, support, and advocacy to stop the bullying. Even with fictional films, I find it hard to resist speaking... Read more

Confusion in the midst of tragedy: Kids Who Had Been Shot Sent Home By Neighbor

The news story, “Florida Woman Kills 4 Children and Then Herself, Police Say”, is a tragic example of how lives could have been saved if the people involved had known how to make the safest choices. Imagine being the neighbor in this story, hearing gun shots and then a knock at the door, and seeing three children who had already been shot but were still alive. When the mother of these children called out to the children them to come back home, they did, even though their mother had... Read more