Effort seeks to help schools prevent sex violence

The schools will receive letters and brief outlines of their duties under Title IX.

Federal officials who want educators to better understand how to prevent and respond to sexual assaults will kick off a nationwide awareness campaign Monday outlining victims’ rights and schools’ responsibilities.

Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are scheduled to appear at the University of New Hampshire to announce the initiative that involves colleges as well as public and private K-12 schools.

“Students across the country deserve the safest possible environment in which to learn,” Biden said. “That’s why we’re taking new steps to help our nation’s schools, universities and colleges end the cycle of sexual violence on campus.”…Read More

Online bullies pull schools into the fray

Schools these days are confronted with complex questions on whether and how to deal with cyberbullying, an imprecise label for online activities ranging from barrages of teasing texts to sexually harassing group sites, reports the New York Times. The extent of the phenomenon is hard to quantify. But one 2010 study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, an organization founded by two criminologists who defined bullying as “willful and repeated harm” inflicted through phones and computers, said one in five middle-school students had been affected. Schools these days are confronted with complex questions on whether and how to deal with cyberbullying, an imprecise label for online activities ranging from barrages of teasing texts to sexually harassing group sites. The extent of the phenomenon is hard to quantify. But one 2010 study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, an organization founded by two criminologists who defined bullying as “willful and repeated harm” inflicted through phones and computers, said one in five middle-school students had been affected…

Click here for the full story

…Read More