Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Why unstructured free play is a key remedy to bullying

October was National Bullying Prevention Month, and in my decade of teaching in high-poverty public elementary schools, I’ve seen strategy after strategy and initiative after initiative implemented to decrease bullying.

While every case is unique, having a general understanding of why a student chooses to bully can be helpful.

Kids usually bully for one of the following reasons: they are frustrated with life’s circumstances and don’t have the emotional tools to cope, they don’t have many friends and are lonely, they have issues with emotional regulation, or they feel powerless to control their life for any number of reasons.…Read More

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5 ways bullying changed during the pandemic

Throughout my career as a school counselor, I’ve worked with students in a variety of educational settings. This includes alternative and charter schools, traditional brick-and-mortar settings, and online school.

Even though they’re all different, I’ve witnessed similar bullying behavior and trends in each of them.

Here are five ways bullying has changed during the pandemic–and one way it’s stayed the same:…Read More

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Movie review: ‘Bully’ packs an emotional wallop

According to the film, 13 million U.S. students are bullied each year. (Image from The Bully Project)

If you feel like you’ve already read quite a bit about the documentary “Bully,” you have. But that still won’t prepare you for the experience of seeing it.

“Bully” has been in the news a lot lately because it received a restrictive R rating (for a small amount of bad language) and then chose to go into theaters unrated. Its distributor, Weinstein Co., made that choice because the film’s subject matter, the pervasiveness of school-related bullying and what can be done about it, would seem to cry out for a high-school age and younger audience. And “Bully” has an emotional impact that must be viewed to be understood.…Read More

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Amid controversy, ‘Bully’ to be released without rating

Rather than release the film with the "R" rating the MPAA has given it, the makers of "Bully" will release it unrated in a calculated risk.

After an online petition and calls from celebrities failed to change the minds of the motion picture ratings board, the Weinstein Co. is moving past the “R” rating earned by its documentary “Bully” and now plans to release the film unrated.

The company announced March 26 that “Bully” will hit theaters March 30 without a rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, meaning some theaters might choose not to show it.…Read More