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Middle Schoolers Learn How to Prevent Bullying in School

August 12, 2010
By Melissa Downer
Saratoga Today

While bullying in and outside of school has always been a problem, Saratoga Springs Middle School has become proactive on the topic and has started a student-run club called “Get Up Stand Up.”

As the eighth-graders head off to high school in the next school year, founding members Bobby Griffin, 14 and Kenny DeLoria, 15, are relying on the incoming sixth graders to join the club and make Saratoga Springs Middle School a positive place to be for all students. To help motivate the new middle-schoolers to join the club, Griffin and DeLoria participated in this years D.A.R.E. All-Stars camp that acclimates and prepares fifth-graders with their transition to Middle School. About one-third of the fifth grade class participated this year.

“When the new sixth-graders enter middle school, they will only recognize maybe 10 other students from their elementary school. This gives them a good chance to meet students from other elementary schools and make them feel more comfortable,” said Camp Director Erin Llyod.

Each day of the camp touches on a different topic such as life skills (including fire prevention, nutrition and the anti-bullying seminar), sports, arts and substance abuse awareness and prevention. The camp is organized around a substance abuse prevention curriculum and is designed to reinforce shared group norms against substance use, promote the development of goals and a positive vision for the future and to support children in making and publicly declaring commitments that will help them to achieve those goals.

“If we ask the children individually what they think about people who do drugs or drink and drive, they will most likely say they are stupid. We have games and surveys that show them that they all agree and share the same opinions,” Lloyd said.

The “Get Up Stand Up” program is new this year, and teaches children techniques in dealing with bullies and getting help from teachers on how to prevent bullying. In school, the club meets on Thursdays after school and addresses bullying in school and how to prevent it. Some of the techniques include making a scene when a bully is harassing a student to grab the attention of a teacher, walk away or stay with friends when a child is expecting to run into the bully because, according to DeLoria, “a bully’s biggest fear is getting caught.”

As a way to report bullying confidentially, the club made it possible to report bullying through EdLine, an online system that the school and students use to check grades or homework assignment. An act of bullying can be reported on this website and will only be read by the principal, assistant principals or guidance counselors.

According to eighth-grade social studies teacher Evan Williamson, the club came to fruition through an idea by a teacher, but it really grew as the students became involved.
“Only they can really prevent bullying. This is a club made up of students helping students,” he said.

Though the All Stars Camp is affiliated with D.A.R.E., which is no longer available through city budget issues, All Stars Camp will continue to run each year to help the large transition between elementary school and middle school.

For more information on the All Stars Camp, visit http://saratogapartnership.org/programs/AllStarsCamp.

Easing Transition Jitter: D.A.R.E. Camp Prepares Students For Middle School

August 11, 2010
By EMILY DONOHUE
The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Middle school can be a tough place, but the 200 incoming sixth-graders who attended the D.A.R.E. All-Stars Camp at Maple Avenue Middle School will have a leg up on their peers come September.

About one-third of the incoming sixth-grade class will attend the camp this summer.

The camp, in its 10th year, offers several weekly sessions for former fifth-graders to become acquainted with life in the middle school and learn skills to help them through the transition. Camp also gives students from the district’s six public elementary schools a chance to meet one another before beginning classes together in September.

One of the highlights of this year’s camp is a new anti-bullying program created and run by two soon-to-be ninth graders. The “Get Up, Stand Up” program — which complements a club at the middle school by the same name — teaches students techniques to counter and avoid bullying.

“They’re so real, the kids can relate to them,” Camp Director Erin Lloyd said.

Bobby Griffin, 14, said they are skills he and his classmates could have used when they were in sixth grade.

“It’s how to prevent it for yourself and be a little more self-sufficient,” he said.

Griffin developed the “Get Up, Stand Up” curriculum after his football coach said he wanted to do something about bullying.

“A lot of bullying goes on in the locker room,” Griffin said. The message carries more weight coming from a fellow student rather than a parent or teacher, he said.

He said the program’s slogan is “by the kids, for the kids.”

Griffin and his friend, Kenny DeLoriea, 15, have put on the program, which includes skits, props and music, weekly at the camp. “The kids get really into it,” DeLoriea said.

A group of about 20 students shuffled into the gym Tuesday, and Griffin and DeLoriea began their program with a series of questions.

“How many of you have ever been bullied?” DeLoriea asked. A few hands went up.

“How many of you have ever seen bullying?” he continued. Nearly every hand was in the air.

The first technique they taught the students was how to “rescue” someone they see being bullied.

“(Bullies) steal positive energy,” Griffin said. The students learned through skits how to walk away from bullies, draw the attention of adults by reacting loudly, and report bullies to teachers or the principal in a variety of ways, including the online EdLine which students can log onto from home and file reports directly to the school’s principal.

Griffin said his own experience reporting a middle school bully did not go as planned and prompted him to talk to teachers and principals about how to better handle the situation.

Rather than call the victim and bully into the same room and make the bully apologize — which happened to Griffin when he was a student at Dorothy Nolan Elementary School and just led to more bullying — the boys promote a technique that allows the victim to avoid being known as a “tattletale.” The adult wouldn’t confront accused bullies until well after the victim has told their story, and would avoid saying the victim ratted them out.

“A bully’s number one fear is getting caught,” DeLoriea said.

The anti-bullying class fit into Tuesday’s theme at camp — life skills. Members of the Saratoga Springs Fire Department also taught students fire safety, and a representative from Cornell Cooperative Extension taught nutrition.

Each day of camp has a theme, such as arts or sports, designed to prepare students for the possibilities and challenges they’ll face in middle school. The program covers decision-making, “what it means to be a good citizen here at the middle school,” and “what type of reputation you want to have here,” Lloyd said. It also includes “homework” for parents, which asks them to review the day’s discussions. Many of those assignments give parents a jumping-off point to talk to their children about subjects like drinking, drugs and sex.

This is the last year the camp will have “D.A.R.E.” in its name, Lloyd said. In years past, the city’s former D.A.R.E. officer, Tony Straus, was on hand to work with students.

“Unfortunately, with the budgetary cuts and the program being cut, we’re just going to have to take the D.A.R.E. out of our name,” Lloyd said.

The camp is funded with money from the school district, the Prevention Council and an $85 camper fee.

Authorities Try to Prevent Underage Gambling

July 26, 2010
By Mark Mulholland
WNYT News Channel 13

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Hundreds of thousands will experience the highs and lows of betting on horse racing in the coming weeks. People of all ages will pass through the turnstiles at Saratoga Race Course. But problem gambling groups say leave the betting to the adults because adolescent brains aren’t capable of processing the potential consequences.

Click here for link to video coverage

“Our kids aren’t equipped to handle the wins and losses yet. We know that. We know that they’re not going to be ready until about 24,” says Jim Maney, executive director of the New York Council on Problem Gambling.

According to a recent state survey, 48 percent of students in grades seven through twelve had gambled within the past year. That number was a little higher in SaratogaCounty.

So problem gambling experts are teaming with law enforcement and the New York Racing Association to prevent kids from gambling. Security will keep a watchful eye on automated betting machines and NYRA will remind parimutuel clerks every day to ask for ID.

“It’s something that’s very important and if someone wants their job, they’ve got to do what they’re asked,” says Charles Wheeler, NYRA’s Facilities Manager at Saratoga.

Teens can be charged with trespass for trying to place a bet. Parents, who sometimes send their kids to the betting window, can be arrested for endangering their welfare.

“It’s a crime to send a kid in to make a bet,” says Jim Murphy, Saratoga County District Attorney. “The message is, if you’re going to make a bet and you’re a parent, do it yourself.”

Anti-Bullying Book has Rachel Alexandra as Main Character

July 26, 2010
By Mark Mulholland
WNYT News Channel 13

SARATOGA SPRINGS – “I feel for the kids who don’t have someone to turn to,” said Dr. Bambii Rae. Rae has been the victim of bullies. She was teased so badly that she was forced to drop out of the Buffalo high school she attended.

Click here for link to video coverage.

She went on to get her Ph.D. in education and now she’s teaching the lesson of her life through the eyes of a champion race horse.

Rae fell in love with Rachel Alexandra, the thoroughbred filly who beat the boys on her way to becoming Horse of the Year. In Rachel she saw the perfect protagonist for her children’s book, “Girl Power: Running Against Bullying.”

“Rachel has a lot of people who believe in her. I don’t think the kids or anybody can do it without that,” Rae said.

The book tells how owners tried to keep Rachel out of the Preakness, but Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney came to her aid and Rachel entered and won the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

The book’s paintings are the work of Saratoga Springs artist Frankie Flores, who — because it’s a children’s book — didn’t want the bullies to be too menacing.

“We tried to make it fun, a little light and airy in some aspects,” Flores explained.

Profit from the book will benefit anti-bullying groups like the Prevention Council of Saratoga.

There’s a big public unveiling of the book at a reception at the Flores Art Gallery, Friday night at 7. It will be available in local bookstores in August.

Officials Discuss How to Protect Youth from Gambling

July 16, 2010
By Paul Post
The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS — State and local officials gathered Friday, a week before Saratoga Race Course opens, to address the growing problem of underage gambling.

Local high school freshmen and sophomores are 20 percent more apt to face such challenges than teens of similar age throughout New York, a state study says.

Saratoga Springs has more gaming venues — the racecourse, Saratoga Gaming & Raceway’s racino — than most cities its size, in addition to easily accessible temptations found everywhere, such as supermarket vending machines that sell Lottery scratch-off tickets.

“Exposing kids to gambling at a young age just increases their likelihood of having problem gambling later on,” said Heather Kisselback, executive director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Council of Saratoga County. “Kids, especially teens who are so impulsive, feel like nothing can happen to them.”

Younger teens are especially vulnerable, she said.

Saratoga Race Course is a fun, family place, but parents need to keep a watchful eye on young people to make sure they don’t try to use self-service betting machines illegally. Also, young children shouldn’t be encouraged to make even small, “make-believe” bets on races, Kisselback said.

A 2008 poll conducted by the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services found that 49 percent of Saratoga County youths in grades seven through 12 have gambled in the past year. Males are four times as likely as females to have a problem.

“With greater acceptance of gambling and increased access, there is increasing risk for problem and pathological gambling,” said Mary Silberstein of the New York Association of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Providers. “It is imperative that we increase prevention efforts.”

The agency says the state shouldn’t allow any more casinos or new gambling opportunities without committing a portion of such revenue to problem gambling services.

New York Racing Association polices automated betting machines to make sure underage people don’t use them. This year, posters will be placed throughout the track, discouraging young people from using such machines.

The Prevention Council was joined by state and NYRA officials and Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III at a Friday press conference at the racecourse.

Kisselback said the council has a variety of in-school programs to deal with underage gambling, the same as drinking, smoking and substance abuse. “It’s the same scenario,” she said. “We haven’t addressed this issue until now.”

Informal sports betting, such as basketball and football pools, are extremely popular among young people, she said.

The council also hosts workshops to help parents recognize and deal with such problems.

Anyone with a gambling problem may call the state’s 24-hour HOPEline at 1-877-8HOPENY.