TEMPLATE OF IDEAS FROM ONE SCARED, CONCERNED DAD & “THE PEOPLE” I TALKED TO ALONG THE WAY. Friends, Neighbors, Co-Workers, Parents, Kids, Kids Friends, Psychologists, Police, Coaches, Teachers, even Swim Team Parents.
From: Peter LaBore
Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2011 12:34 AM
To: Police Chief Dave Dial; D203 Pres. Mark Jaensch; D203 Super. Mark Mitrovich;
NNHS Principal Kevin Pobst; Cyber Expert Det. Wistocki
Develop a clear, enforceable and actionable cyber policy:
to clarify: Cyber bullying, Electronic video, Electronic audio, Etc. It's all Cyber!
Implement a Comprehensive Awareness program for the entire district:
School wide assemblies at the high schools. This program should be put on by the police cybercrimes division with the help of the school liaison officers. THEY ACTUALLY DID THIS ONE (Sort Of) – WIN FOR US!
Cyber-crime/Bullying awareness training at ages K-8: The earlier we can let them know that this is a huge issue the better.
Awareness training for the teachers including all school personnel: This must include direction from our elite cyber-crimes division. The school liaison officers need to attend a workshop on this with periodic follow up sessions and if they do not attend they should not be allowed in the schools. This should apply at Deans as well.
Clarification of the athletic “Zero Tolerance Policy”: If a kid gets bullied 5 minutes after school on the bus, it’s the principal’s issue. If it happens 5 minutes after school at a team practice, it becomes an Athletic Director issue and the Principal washes his hands along with any discipline. The bully ends up missing a game or two but still practices with the team and becomes an underground hero. Meanwhile the bullied kid becomes the bad guy to both the players, coaches and the parents. No Suspension, detention, book report, study hall , nothing… IT JUST BECOMES A BIG JOKE LEAVING A VULNERABLE KID IN A VERY DANGEROUS POSITION!pension, Detention, Study Hall, Book Report. Nothing really of any consequence so the parents don’t care a whole lot. IT JUST BECOMES A BIG JOKE, LEAVING A VULNERABLE CHILD IN AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS POSITION!pension, Detention, Study Hall, Book Report. Nothing really of any consequence so the parents don’t care a whole lot. IT JUST BECOMES A BIG JOKE, LEAVING A VULNERABLE CHILD IN AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS POSITION!
Parent Letter: A letter should be IMMEDIATELY sent out to all district 203 parents alerting them to the dangers of cyber bullying. It should encourage parents to monitor their child’s social media accounts and advise them to have access to all their kid’s passwords. Many parents are reluctant to invade their kid’s space, but if a letter goes out from the schools recommending it, parents can use that as a reason. They can tell their kids, “The school tells me that in the interest of keeping you safe, I should be checking this stuff regularly.” The letter should also recommend installing monitoring software. I’m sure Det. Wistocki can recommend some.
Outreach Program: The school should setup up an outreach program in which they encourage victims of cyber bullying to come forward and provide them someone to talk to. We need to open a dialog and try to bring this “Out of the Closet”. Let kids know it’s not their fault that this happened and let them know that it’s ok to speak up like my son did.
Federal Funding: We should apply for federal funding for this. This seems to be top of President Obama’s agenda. Let’s see if he will put his “money where his mouth is” in his home state. Use some of the remaining stimulus money. After all – It’s for the Kids.
You will all be heroes: Move this issue forward in District 203 and the whole state will follow. Tout your “Elite Cyber Crimes Division” and make this program “The Shining Example for the Nation.” Turn lemons into lemonade.
Save Lives: If you don’t implement this after 4 repetitive cyber instances at your school and something happens, the blood will be on your hands.