Rapper 50 Cent says he sometimes bullied others while growing up and now wants to use his influence on teenagers to get them thinking about the issue.

By Molly Driscoll The Christian Science Monitor

Rapper Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, is adding author to his long list of job titles with a new book about bullying.

The book, titled “Playground,” is a young adult novel published by Razorbill that will be released on Nov. 1. The novel, illustrated by Lizzie Akana, tells the story of Butterball, a 13-year-old living on Long Island who bullies a fellow student named Maurice. In an interview on “The Today Show” on NBC, the rapper said he drew inspiration from his own school days because he sometimes took the role of bully in the hallways.

“I had more experiences where I was a part of the problem, where I was actually bullying,” Jackson said on the show. "To know now from an adult's perspective and be able to write things, I can look back on those actual situations and say, 'That was completely wrong.' ”

Jackson said the issue is close to him personally because of his son, who is 15 years old. Jackson said he is in a better position than most to speak to young adults and hopes that his influence will help the message get across.

“A lot of the times the kids that would actually be a part of the problem are listening [to my music],” he said. “When I offer it, they'll take the time to stop and read it."

Islamophobic Bullying

in Our Schools

By Engy Abdelkader

The Huffington Post

"You boys were so much fun on the 8th grade trip! Thanks for not bombing anything while we were there!" read the yearbook inscription penned by the middle school teacher.

The eighth grade yearbook was littered with similar remarks by classmates linking Omar to a "bomb."

"To my bomb man!" read one note. "Come wire my bomb," read another.

"What is this?" asked Omar's mother incredulously. He had handed the yearbook over to her moments earlier when he arrived home that afternoon.

Omar answered quietly, "I know, Mom, I know." He stared down at the kitchen floor. His eyes could not meet his mother's but he began to tell her what had happened just one month earlier.

In May 2009, Omar joined his classmates on a school trip to Washington, D.C. As they toured the Washington Monument, visited area museums and passed by the White House, the kids repeatedly told Omar they hoped he wouldn't "bomb" any of the sites. A teacher chaperoned the children, heard the comments and responded by doing... well, nothing, except leave a denigrating remark in Omar's yearbook a month later.

It was clear to Omar's mother that her American born and raised son was harassed because of his Muslim faith and Arab ancestry.

Unfortunately, this was not the first bias-based bullying incident involving Omar that school year. Only several months earlier a peer was intimidating Omar, calling him a "terrorist," during an elective trade course. Omar finally told his mother about the bullying when his report card indicated that he was failing that same class, while acing the others where he was not subjected to such humiliating treatment.

More...

Days of Bullying as Rite of Passage Are Gone,

Officials Says

By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2011 – After years of being bullied in school and online, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer was reaching his breaking point.

The openly gay teenager talked about his experiences in a video he posted on YouTube last spring. “They’d taunt me in the hallways, and I felt like I could never escape it,” the Buffalo, N.Y., native said. “People would just constantly send me hate.”

Afraid of what lay ahead for him in high school, Rodemeyer committed suicide last month.

In the past, bullying was deemed a rite of passage, but that’s not the case any more, a Defense Department official said.

“Children can have terrible consequences from being bullied, whether it’s poor academic success, loneliness, not being able to make friends or just feeling like they can’t go to school,” said Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon’s office of family policy, children and youth. “They get sick. Eventually, the greatest tragedy would be suicide.”

Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. And children from military families are comparable to their civilian counterparts in this regard, Thompson said, noting they may be even more vulnerable due to frequent military moves.

“As they relocate from school to school, they are the new kids on the block and may be perceived as being different,” she explained.

Children with deployed parents also may stand out as they deal with the anxiety and loss associated with separation from a loved one, she added, particularly when other children from their school don’t share those same experiences.

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Live Bullying Prevention Audio Conference
November 02, 2011--1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT

www.lorman.com/ID388618

AGENDA

Effect of Bullying on Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

• Defining Bullying, Cyber Bullying, Social Aggression and Other Acts of Misconduct

• Common Traits of Bullies, Targets and the Crowd

• Consequences to Address Bullying

Developing a School-Wide Same Page Mentality to Stop Bullying

• Staff Responsibility

• Four-Step Response to Bullying

• Teasing vs. Taunting

Strategies to Stop Cyber Bullying and Social Aggression

• The Overlap Between Cyber Bullying and Social Aggression

• Chart Activity

• Replacing Negative Behavior With Empathy, Friendship And Respect

Schedule Student, Staff and Parent

Bullying Prevention Workshops for Your School
Call 802-362-5448

Mike's book, How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression, has been recognized as a practical resource to teach and reinforce character development and pro-social behavior.