Artical 3

Unknown. "Schools Need to Follow Through Against Bullying." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 05 Oct 2009: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 28 Sep 2010.

-          Some people that say the schools aren’t making progress say, “What good is passing laws against "bullying" if states aren't doing much to enforce them?”(McClatchy).

-          Some people say that no progress is being made against bullying.

-          There are a couple laws and one Illinois law “doesn't say what the policy should include,” (McClatchy).

-          People who don’t believe there has not been a lot of progress made in the fight against bullying say one good thing is that the teachers and students take bullying seriously.

-          There are currently 44 states with laws against bullying.

-          Some say that the government just past passes laws for their political gain.

-          Bullying can go as far as physical attacks and criminal acts.

-          Bullying can be as small as verbal abuse or exclusion.

-          Everyone agrees that bullies need to know bullying behavior is unacceptable.

-          Something needs to be done when bullies are turned in because it can just make the situation worst.

Artical 2 Note

Viadero, Debra. "Studies Probe 'Ecology' of Bullying." Education Week Vol. 29, No. 32. 19 May 2010: 1-3. SIRS Researcher. Web. 24 Sep 2010.

-          During a study a while back hey found that, “When children bullied other children, they rarely did it alone.” (Viadero)

-          “Understanding the full measure of bullying is especially important now as districts, states, and federal education officials step up their efforts to combat the scourge in schools.” (Viadero)

-          The environment impacts how bullies succeed.

-          A strategy teacher s are using is making and encouraging a better environment.

-          Bullying has gotten so bad and law suits are being filed against school systems.

-          Law suits have forced schools to shape up the system.

-          Schools have realized that bullying has scarred kids for life.

-          Schools are now putting out the message that bullying is unacceptable.

-          It use to be that stealing and fighting was bullying and now the message that bullying is verbal most of the time is being sent by schools.

-          Many bullies continue to bully despite anti-bullying messages and more supervision is occurring in common bulling places and areas, such as a locker room.

Artical 1 Notes

Bullying

Gathering Information-Notes

Mehta, Seema. "Meaner Bullying Is Stirring New Tactics." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA). 07 Mar 2008: B.1. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Sep 2010.

-          “Consequences can be devastating or even deadly.”  (Mehta)

-          Cyber bullying is happening more now that kids can use technology more easily.

-           “In 2005, 28% of students age 12 to 18 reported being bullied in the previous six months.” (Mehta)

-          Most kids don’t report bullying.

-          Bullying has made a lot kids transfer.

-           There have even been cases where kids have attempted suicide because they have been bullied.

-          Authorities are trying to stop bullies from thinking that it is ok.

-          Cyber bulling is getting harder to stop because it is often anonymous and tracks are easily covered.

-          Schools are doing a lot to prevent the first bullying spark from happening.

-           Kid’s grades go lower a lot of times if they are bullied badly.

-          Some kids drop out if they are bullied.

Some kids even bring weapons to school if they are bullied.

Image from: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTdTTEj0u2A0OEcX2A5kZU_mnOUiZ3b62bdLhvcADN4Amz13jA&t=1&usg=__WRKsAsEiYFjERTa6mTNmaMAV5fo=                                                                                                                                  

Research Topic Paragraph

Kevin Davies

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Reds

9/18/10

Book: Borderline by Allan Stratton

Topic: Bullying

Search Terms:

Bullying in schools

Bullying statistics

Bullying prevention

Bullying in the Workplace

            In Borderline by Allan Stratton Bullying was huge issue.  According to news sources there have been people that have committed suicide because they have been bullied.   Schools and teachers are trying to stop bullying and take control of it.  According to Jamie Munks, “it just got a little tougher to bully in New York schools.”  Although schools are doing a lot to stop bullying students are still being hurt.  “Cyber bullying can be anonymous and often difficult to prove,” says Jamie Munks.  Bullying outside of school also happens.  I do believe that schools are on the right track, although parents need to become involved.  Schools should not have jurisdiction over bullying outside of school.                 Image from: http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dschool%2Bbullying%26b%3D41%26ni%3D20%26ei%3Dutf-8%26xargs%3D0%26pstart%3D1%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701%26fr2%3Dsg-gac&w=847&h=1280&imgurl=suhailalgosaibi.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F02%2Fkids-bullying.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsuhailalgosaibi.com%2F2009%2F02%2F25%2Ftough-bikers-wearing-pink-bullying-and-me%2F&size=68KB&name=Wearing+Pink%2C+Bu...&p=school+bullying&oid=60c5c6d105436d07e9d12f0712be06ae&fr2=sg-gac&no=45&tt=92100&b=41&ni=20&sigr=12go1t13l&sigi=11tbks8q8&sigb=13rje41c1

Research Questions

Should schools have jurisdiction over bullying outside of school?  Why or why not?    Are schools doing enough to reduce bullying?  Why or why not?    How should schools get kids and parents to take responsibility and do something to keep kids from   bullying?    How should kids be able to stand up to bullies and defend themselves and their friends?

"Borderline" by Allen Stratton Summer Book Report

1. The main character is Sami who is very consciences of what he does and what goes on around him. He is also extremely vulnerable to being pushed around and bullied. Sami can also be very daring when there is a lot at risk, like when he rescued his father from being convicted of terrorism.




2. In the beginning Sami is getting in trouble and being bullied a lot. Eddie and his friends bully him constantly and get him in trouble for fighting with the vice principle while Mr. Bernstein tries to help him. He also goes to an island with his friends, without adults, and they get in trouble for trespassing which causes cops to show up and tell the parents about the incident. Sami also started thinking his dad was having another affair other than with his mom and tries to find out if it's true. In the middle the FBI broke into the house, captured Sami's dad, questioned Sami, and tore the house apart. There were news reporters outside the house for a long time and when they were gone Sami went back to school where he was expelled and Mr. Bernstein was fired after a video was found by someone of Mr. Bernstein comforting Sami after he had his head dunked in a dirty toilet by Eddie and his friends trying to make him admit that his father was a terrorist. In the end Sami went to public school with his friends and convinces them to take him to Toronto to find Tariq. He found Tariq and found out that Tariq only wanted family information. One of his friends set him up with videos. Sami's dad was found innocent and the others got little jail time for little things when they turned themselves in.



3. Because of the changes Sami experiences throughout the story I think the author is trying to say that life is full of twists and turns which means you must be firm and know who to trust. One example of firmness is demonstrated at the end of the story when Sami stands up to Eddie and ticks him off. One example of trust is when he trusts his father's word against the media’s.

4. Sami was affected by three major issues: bullying, profiling, and government security. Bullying effects Sami when Eddie acted very racist against him, like when Eddie called him sand monkey. Profiling also affected him when when Eddie racially bullied him and thought just because his dad was shown on the news and that he was Muslim that he was a terrorist. Eddie also harassed that Sami was a bad person too. Government security also effected Sami because it's so uptight and they took Sami's dad. The taking of Sami's dad caused all of the information about Tariq and his earlier life. It also caused Sami to prove his dad's incense. Because of this the family was happy again.

5. Bullying seems real and important when Sami has his head dunked in the toilet by Eddie and his gang and gets expelled. The author makes this issue immediate and personal because some kids have been harassed the same way and a lot of people have seen it happen. Profiling is also a big issue that happens all the time. Sami was profiled because of his race and religion and used it to bully him. The media also used it to make Sami's dad seem like a villain. The author made this issue seem real and important because some people profile Muslims as terrorists all the time and there are a lot of racists in the world that many people know.

Pen Pal Assignment

Dear Sami,

            My name is Kevin and I read your book, Borderline, by Allan Straton, over the summer.  Over the summer, I did a variety of different things.  I went to North Carolina to visit my uncle, aunt and cousins.  I also went to Ocean City and did a lot of fishing.  I went offshore quite a bit.  We caught two mako sharks, a brown shark, and seven dolphin(mahi-mahi) on my friend Nate’s boat, the Joanie B.  I reeled in one of the dolphin and the biggest mako, which was 125 lbs.  It was a tough 45 minute fight until we got the gaff in him.  While we were dragging him we decided we needed another rope around its tail.  We had left another bait out because we didn’t have time to reel it back in, and when we stopped to adjust the ropes, we hooked up with a 60 lb. mako, pulled the first mako in the boat, and released the second mako which Nate pulled in.  We also caught a dolphin and a tuna on my boat, the Dan’s Legacy.  The first day of fishing on my boat my brother got sea sick and my dad was very tired, so I got to run everything.  We had about 4 hits and then caught a small bluefin.  We also saw a fish hit our way way back lure which is about 600 feet behind the boat as we were cranking it in.  The next day of fishing, we had a fish come up in the spread and hit four of our lures about twice each.  We hooked a couple times and never managed to keep the fish on.  It was cool, because we could see the fish swim up behind the bait he was going to hit.  After that we saw bonita everywhere but we couldn’t get any hits so we went to fish lobster pots for dolphin.  I fought the first dolphin which was about eight to ten pounds and we caught it.  My brother fought the next one and we lost it.  Then I hooked up on a dolphin that was 40 to 50 pounds on 15 pound spinning tackle.  I had an epic and hard fight.  I almost got spooled a couple times and we had to chase it down with the boat.  When the fish finally got tired I was pumping it up to the gaff when the fish won because the line broke right at the knot.  After this we saw the saw the fish circling the buoy and it wouldn’t take a bait.  My brother lost one more fish and we had to go in.  I also caught a couple bass and flounder over the summer.  We did a lot of crabbing too.  I also did a lot of motocrossing and skateboarding.  I had a lot of fun this summer.   

            I thought the book Allan Stratton wrote was an excellent, well written story of what happened to you.  I thought you were a very brave person when you went to Toronto to save your dad and your friends were very loyal.  It was good that you were able to trust your dad and stand up for him like you did.  When it came to Eddy you probably should have stood up to him earlier than you did but it finally happened at the end of your story.

            I liked Stratton's writing style that you used to tell the story.  He told your thoughts very vividly which made the story very realistic to me as a reader.  I liked how you even explained why you thought other people did things like when you explained Eddy’s reasoning all of the time for bullying you.  There was always a good reason why you did what you did.

            I have a couple questions.  How did you not worry a lot about your mom getting angry at you for going to Toronto?  I would also like to know why you didn’t stand up to Eddy at first.  Why didn’t you tell your teachers the truth about Eddy bullying you?  My favorite turning point was when Tariq told you what really happened, because it changed the reader’s view of the kind of person that your dad was.  Another good turning point was when you stood up to Eddy at the end of the story, because it doesn’t leave the reader wondering about you two after the story.

            One of the biggest issues in your story was bullying.  It happens everywhere and all the time.  There are a couple simple ways I could raise awareness about bullying.  I could raise awareness by standing up to bullies like you did at the end of the story.  I could also help any friends who may be bullied stand up to their bullies.  The attitude against bullies can quickly spread.

            Keep standing up for you and your family.  Don’t let the bullies get to you.  Thank you for sharing your amazing story by writing your book.

                                                                      Sincerely, 

                                                                      Kevin