If anyone reading this (either of you?) is familiar with Ragen over at Dances with Fat, you probably know that she has been training for an IRONMAN triathlon. This past weekend she did a test run, an IRONMAN 70.3 (which is half the distance of the main race), on the same course she’ll be on […]
Earlier this week, Target announced that they’ll be removing unnecessarily gender-specific signs and color-coded decorations from some departments, including the toy aisles and children’s bedding. Seems like a small change that shouldn’t be cause for any outrage, right? Alas, no. Target’s Facebook page is full of angry (and largely ungrammatical) posts from people vowing to never […]
GamerGaters are still rearing their ugly heads this week, to the surprise of precisely no one. We also have some not-good news for everyone who was so excited that the Nigerian schoolgirls might have been on their way home, but at least the massive list of terrible people is somewhat mitigated by a bunch of awesome […]
So many people were truly terrible this week, but we’ve got a few awesome people to try to balance them out. And if you somehow missed the worst Photoshop ever, you’re gonna love this week’s TWiM! (As usual, trigger warnings for pretty much everything apply.)
It’s misogyny time! We’ve got one victory in the abortion-rights fight (but more bad news), a fantastic Twitter hashtag in response to a horrible “motivational” speaker, Fox News idiocy, and the best Beastie Boys cover ever!
Oh dear. There is just so much wrong with the world this week. A little bit of good news, but a lot more that’s positively rage-inducing. At least there’s an awesome Stephen Colbert smackdown! (As usual, trigger warnings for pretty much everything apply.)
Why hello there, Dr. Laura! Ridiculous as always, I assume? This week’s advice comes from her YouTube channel. The question: I have a fourteen-year-old son in the middle of puberty who is having a hard time controlling his emotions. By nature, he’s a kind, thoughtful, generous, kid with a tender heart, but he can be […]
When I was a kid, the word “bully” wasn’t given the weight it is today. “Boys will be boys” was more the phrase of the hour – I heard it more than once from well-meaning teachers and defensive parents, even after I was assaulted by a group of classmates in junior high. To borrow a phrase […]
Once again, I’m going to be tackling some advice that Dr. Laura has given (taken from transcripts on her website), and look at it from a different, less awful perspective. If you would like some similar not-awful advice, ask me! I am all-knowing. Except when I’m not. But mostly-knowing. The question: “As a parent and a teacher […]
I’ve been cramming relentlessly for the Foreign Service Officer Test this past week, so our lovely editors are letting me share an oldie from the early days of PM. This post from October 2010 is about the Dignity for All Students Act and its role in preventing bullying in schools.
I thought I’d cap off bullying awareness week by discussing something that’s tangentially related to bullying: My name is Hattie, and I have scoliosis.
Over the past few weeks, the media has suddenly paid a lot of attention to bullying and suicide among young people, particularly those who identify as LGBT. Tragic stories like those of Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, and Billy Lucas in the last month alone seem to be everywhere you turn.
In my post yesterday, I discussed how some recent interactions with former high school bullies helped me reach the surprising conclusion that some of my former tormentors are now mature, successful, even nice people. But it got me thinking about bullies who don’t grow out of it: what happens to them? Who are their targets […]
Yesterday we looked at True Tolerance, Focus on the Family’s website which addresses school bullying. Today we’ll be looking at the policy they recommend for school districts to address bullying without furthering the “homosexual agenda.” And boy oh boy, is it a doozy. As the True Tolerance site claims any of the materials available on […]
So, who had (or will have) a 10-year high school reunion this year? I was a member of the class of 2000, a bit of trivia that was burned into my brain at a young age. I remember my kindergarten teacher telling us as a group that we were going to graduate in the year […]