The Dignity For All Students Act was signed into law in New York State in 2010. It will not go into effect until July 1st, 2012. Here is the link to the NYS Education Department Dignity Act homepage http://www.p12.nysed.gov/dignityact/

Final Critical Reflection Assignment: Please look over the weebsite page and create a 1-2 page response on your feelings towards the Dignity For All Students Act. Some questions to consider while writing your reflection: Will this act scare students and keep them from bullying others? Do you think it is a good thing to get politicians involved in this topic of school bullying or violence? Have you ever been a victim of bullying? Does this act address Cyberbullying? After participating in a series of blog assignments and learning about the history of violence and what we participate in, will this put an end to school violence?

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Google + has added to this sensation of school violence and bullying. Cyberbulling has became a prominent form of bullying that can be done from the confines of home. All it takes is one person to post a bad picture or a disparaging remark and it goes viral in a school community. Students social identities can be destroyed and violence can occur as a result of Cyberbullying. Our politicians are starting to step up and address the issues of Cyberbullying by creating legislation and harsher penalties for students who choose to bully. When do we determine when a student is a victim of bullying or just one simple mean remark? Do we as teachers and administrators have to monitor these social networking sites? How can we teach students to be responsible and accountable for their actions? This is an interesting topic for the next few years to come.

Assignment: Design a Facebook profile using this template on a important historical figure that we have talked about so far this year! This assignment can be pretty much be anybody you can find information on. Examples: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, etc.

Here is the template for the Facebook assignment: http://teachone2one.com/wp-content/uploads/Facebook%20Assignment.pdf

Even the reality shows our students watch have violence in them. To drive television ratings and create publicity, many of the shows our students watch have violent outbursts or actual physical violence on display. Shows such as "Jersey Shore," "Bad Girls Club" promote violenc because viewers simply crave the violence or they simply will not watch. Our popular culture seems to do a great job in promoting violence and bullying. What can we do to stop this trend?

Assignment: Students are to watch a episode of any reality television show that comes on during the week. While watching this show create a list of examples of violence or some type of mistreatment that you see on the show. Pick your show wisely... The Bachelor and some other reality television shows will be hard to find instances of violence. Examples: Big Brother, Glass House, Housewives of Atlanta, Jersey Shore show examples of violence and outburst. Assignment will be due in two weeks of this posting. Please do not wait to the last minute or day to find a show to look up unless you have netflix or can watch the show online!

In history or after World War I we had our first instances of gangs and gang leaders such as Al Capone. Now our modern gangs consist of Crypts, Bloods, and other various gangs around the nation. Gangs is a growing problem in some communities. Gangs have even rose in schools. How do we keep gang violence from infiltrating our schools when we see it on a daily basis in such television shows such as "GangLand" on Spike TV. Even popular movies such as the "Godfather" became big hits as it emphasized gangs and warlords.


Thought provoking questions to be answered by next class:
1. What time period in history did we see the arrival of organized crime being led by guys such as Al Capone?
2. What was the era called that organized crime became more apparent or visible?
3. Make connections between gangs of today and gangs in history? T-charts, Venn Diagrams can be used

Even in the music our students engage in and listen to violence is often associated with the actions of popular rap artists such as Waka Flocka and others. They make it sound like it is good to be in the "hood" shooting at the police and community members. Parents are actually allowing their kids to listen to music such as this that promotes violence and takes it to another level. Rap artists are looked up to by our young adults and students. Many popular rap artist have lost their lives to violence. Such as Notorious B.I.G. or "Biggie" and Tupac. Is it cool to talk about violence such as this?

Answer these questions before the next class:

What are examples of music that you guys listen to?
Do any of you listen to Waka Flocka and think his music promotes violence?

We as a society do not worry about violence in our schools until unfortunate events such As Columbine or the Virginia Tech shootings occur. We often ask ourselves how can we prevent this from occurring? In many ways our society has to take a stand and wonder where does our youth get violent ideas such as these men on this fateful day? Why did we allow these students to get bullied to the point that they wanted to get back at everyone who did them wrong? The media portrayal of these crimes is telling also as when school shootings do occur it is national news and blown up on every channel. Many students who commit such crimes immerse themselves in violent literacies that we are feeding them through society. How can we change this and keep such horrible crimes from happening in our schools?

Participate in Class Discussion on school violence and bullying

Even in sports that we play and watch, violence is portrayed or encouraged. In football, violent physical hitting is needed in order to stop the other team from scoring. The reason I bring up football is because of the recent "Bounty-Gate" scandal that showed football players setting bounties or intentionally trying to injure other players for monetary benefit and winning. A few ex New Orleans Saints players and higher ups in the organization were suspended. What kind of example does these actions set for young players who look up to these high profile athletes? How does it look that even higher management condoned such actions? Also the violence we see in  other sports such as basketball. Remember the Brawl in 2004 with Ron Artest now known as Metta World Peace? Our students seem to remember these actions of athletes and mimic them.