American Morning
Fighting back against bullies
(CNN) – Is it a smart idea to teach your child how to stand up to a Bully? What happens when your child continues to be a target and the Bully won’t back down? Some parents are turning to Martial Arts.
A new course called “Bullyproof” teaches children how to thwart an attack using Jiu-Jitsu techniques. The course, teaches the three T's: Talk your way out. Tell an adult. And, as the last resort, and only when attacked, Tackle the bully. Then, if the person attacks you physically, grab him in a bear hug and take him down to pin and safely hold until rescue comes. The aim is to provide self-confidence and the physical skills for self-defense. Different age groups are taught different techniques.
In the Jr. Grapplers classes the 15 essential techniques they must know in order to defend themselves if attacked. The techniques are all non-violent control tactics designed to minimize injury to the bully if used during a real fight. To keep it fun, brothers Rener and Ryron Gracie advocate positive reinforcement as opposed to nit-picking details - participation, not perfection.
We head to Gracie Jiu-Jitsu headquarters in Torrance, California to observe the class, talk to the instructors who created the program, find out why parents choose to enroll their children, and we talk to the kids about bullying and what the class has meant to them.
The Teaser for Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"The Teaser” is a preview of the guests we have lined up for the next day – so you know when to tune in (and when to set your alarm!). Guests and times are always subject to change.
6:05AM Michael Hudson, Author, "The Monster" and Staff Writer, Center for Public Integrity, on the U.S. foreclosure crisis. Could it get even worse? Did lenders use corrupt methods?
6:40AM Dr. Jamie Grifo, OB/GYN and Program Director, NYU Fertility Center, on Robert G. Edwards Nobel Prize win and his contributions developing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Plus, a new study found that children who were conceived by IVF actually scored better than age- and gender-matched peers on a standardized test.
7:10AM Jeffrey Toobin, CNN Senior Legal Analyst, on anti-gay protests at military funerals, can they be stopped. He’ll break down a Supreme Court case that could impact free speech and privacy rights.
7:40AM Doug and Masha Shepherd, filmed footage of animal trainer being mauled by lions, on how a horrific afternoon at the circus has changed their lives.
8:10AM Gene Cranick, Home burned to ground because he did not pay $75 fee for rural fire coverage, on why he didn’t pay the fee and what it was like watching his home of twenty years burn to the ground. He’ll tell us how firefighters reacted.
8:40AM Paul Callan , Law Professor at Seton Hall University and Jeff Gardere, clinical psychologist, on what parents can do when their child is being bullied. What legal recourse does a parent have and how better to bolster your kids emotionally.
Have questions for any of our guests?
Tweet 'em at Twitter.com/amFIX or post them below and we'll try to use 'em!
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Bullying Solutions
by Carol Costello and Bob Ruff
(CNN) – At one time or another most anyone who has ever gone to school either has known a bully, been bullied or bullied others.
Many of us are also all too familiar with bullies thanks to Hollywood films, such as "Butch" of the "Little Rascals" or, more recently, the wicked "Queen Bee" in the 2004 film "Mean Girls."
Dr. Catherine Bradshaw, of the Johns Hopkins School of Health told us that about 10% of all school children have been bullied, another 10% did the bullying, and still another 10% both bullied and were bullied themselves.
Recently we reported that the Federal Government has taken notice, holding the first-ever bullying summit in August. And they've put up a comprehensive web site called "Stop Bullying Now" . But even the Federal Government's man in charge of school safety, Kevin Jennings, told us, "it's taken us a long time to develop a bullying problem. It's going to take some time to solve it."
Until that happens, parents and their children are faced with the question: How do you deal with a bully?
The Bully Pulpit
By Carol Costello and Bob Ruff
Sometimes all it takes is one person.
In the minds of many, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat in the white section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama sparked the civil rights movement in the 1950s.
Candy Lightner lost her 13-year-old daughter to a hit-and-run drunk driver in 1980. Her decision to co-found MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, led to a nationwide movement which has been instrumental in strengthening state and federal drunk driving laws.
Kirk Smalley wants to ignite another kind of movement, one that might have saved his 11-year old boy, Ty. He wants parents, kids, educators and “all those smart people out there” to come up with a plan to end bullying in our schools.
We caught up with Smalley at a rally at Western Heights High School at Oklahoma City. He was invited to speak at the invitation Upward Bound, whose Stand for the Silent campaign was inspired by Smalley’s one-man mission to end bullying in schools.
“I have to make a difference,” Smalley told the students. “I promised my son on Father’s Day this year I’d stop this from happening to another child.”
Smalley says that for years his son, Ty, struggled with a bully at school.
“He was always getting called names. You know, Ty was always pretty small for his age, and he’d get shoved, pushed here and there.”
Smalley says Ty was a typical kid with typical grades who took the abuse for two years. On the day Ty finally decided to push back—physically—he got into trouble for doing it. He was suspended from school. For Ty, that was too much to bear. On that day, last May, he killed himself. He was 11 years old.
Ty’s funeral was captured by independent filmmaker Lee Hirsch, in the upcoming documentary “The Bully Project” which documents the pain suffered by the bullied and their families across the nation.
The pain that Smalley feels is still palpable. “Ultimately,” he said, “my son’s safety rested in my hands. I was responsible for my son’s safety–I’m his Dad! It’s my job to protect him! No matter what.”
Assistant Deputy Education Secretary Kevin Jennings was appointed by President Obama to keep kids safe at school. Ty’s story could easily have been his own.
“I was bulled very severely when I was in junior high and high school,” he says. “And the first day of 10th grade I actually refused to go back to school because I simply wasn’t going to go back to a place where I was bullied every day.”
Jennings organized the nation’s first-ever bullying summit over the summer. But, even he admits it’s a baby step. Experts can’t even agree on how to define bullying. Is it physical? Electronic? Psychological? Non-verbal? All of the above?
“It’s taken us a long time to develop a bullying problem,” says Jennings. “It’s going to take us some time to solve it.”
There are no Federal guidelines that schools must follow to deal with bullying. They’re on their own. In Smalley’s home state of Oklahoma, each school district deals with bullying in different ways. It’s something else that infuriates Smalley.
“A lot of schools around the country, their answer to bullying is they let the victim leave a little bit early. They let them go home early to get a head start on the bully…You’re singling this child out! This child that’s been picked on, you’re singling him out now!”
Real solutions will come too late for Ty. But, Kirk Smalley is on that mission. He has spoken to scores of schools about the dangers of bullying and worked with Outward Bound to hold “Stand for the Silent” rallies around the nation.
“I’m not going to stop,” he told us. “I’ll fight bullying wherever it’s found. Schools. Work place. I’m not going to quit until bullying does….”
The Teaser for Monday, October 4, 2010
"The Teaser” is a preview of the guests we have lined up for the next day – so you know when to tune in (and when to set your alarm!). Guests and times are always subject to change.
6:24AM Max Kellerman, CNN Contributor, on Michael Vick’s injury, Donovan McNabb’s return to Philly and the latest on Tiger Woods.
6:40AM Evan Tracey , President & Founder, Campaign Media Analysis Group and Political Media Analyst, on how one Supreme Court decision is impacting the politcial ads you’ll be seeing this season.
7:10AM Joan Biskupic, Supreme Court Reporter, USA Today, on hot-button cases before the Supreme court, and Justice Elena Kagan’s inability to rule on half the cases because of her previous role as solicitor general.
7:40AM Paul Cruickshank, Terrorism Analyst and Alumni Fellow NYU Center on Law and Security New York, on the latest terror threat facing Americans in Europe.
8:40AM Lee Hirsch, Director and Producer, “The Bully Project”, on his upcoming film documenting kids who were bullied and parents who lost their children to suicide.
Have questions for any of our guests?
Tweet 'em at Twitter.com/amFIX or post them below and we'll try to use 'em!
Have an idea for a story? Or more questions about something you saw or read on our amFIX blog, Facebook or Twitter?
E-mail your story ideas and questions to am@CNN.com.
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