Giraffe Spots to Show Anti-Bullying Efforts

The new anti-bullying program is rolling at Buker, where the focus is on giraffes.

A large giraffe painted on the wall at the entrance to Buker Elementary School will show the school's progress to combat bullying - and focus on helpful and respectful behavior when students "stick out their neck." On Wednesday, students at the Wenham school were encouraged to "stick out their neck" like a giraffe. "We're going to try to fill our giraffe with your names on spots for sticking out your neck to help others," Kathy Hughes, the school's adjustment counselor told all of the school's students that sat on the gym floor. Students will be encouraged to "spot" behavior that shows students "sticking their neck out." Teachers also acted out some common schooltime scenarios, showing students what it means to stick out their neck. In one…

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Anti-Bullying Program to Kick Off in Schools

The Regional School District has adopted a new anti-bullying program that will get started in the next few weeks.

A new anti-bullying program - Olweus Bullying Prevention Program - gets started in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District in the next few weeks. The Olweus program is a proactive approach that focuses on awareness, identification, and prevention of bullying, according to a notice sent to parents last week. The program started in the district back in August, when school teams were trained and then, in turn, trained teachers in each school, said Celeste Bowler, assistant superintendent for learning. Now, in he next few weeks each school will take part in various “kickoff” events and there will be evening programs for  parents. In October, the district also conducted a survey to establish a baseline mark to measure the success of the …

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Patch Facts

Five Things to Know on Nov. 13: Back to School

An essential get-me-going daily morning column from Hamilton-Wenham Patch.

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 13. Here are five things you need to know in Hamilton and Wenham: 1. Falling: The temperature will drop over the course of the day on Tuesday, from high temperatures into the 60s on Monday and lows only getting into the 50s overnight, the temperature will get down into the 40s by dinnertime on Tuesday. The sky will be cloudy with the chance of showers. 2. Wenham Leaves: Collection of loose leaves along the roadside and curbside in Wenham continues on Tuesday in the Lord’s Hill neighborhood off Topsfield Road (Route 97). We will post updates on the collection schedule as we get them. 3. Bullying: Dr. Elizabeth Englander is an expert on the topic of bullying behavior in children and teenagers and she is coming to the …

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TELL US: Does Charlie Brown's 'Great Pumpkin' Condone Bullying?

One parent is asking the holiday classic special to be removed from the airwaves because of a "bullying" theme. Do you agree?

  Maybe there isn't sincerity as far as the eye can see.  One parent is speaking out online against the Halloween classic program, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," claiming the animated favorite actually condones bullying in an age where such an act is taken seriously in school systems nationwide, according to a report on WCVB.com. The TODAY Show's Moms Blog reported this week that in a recent blog post on Babble.com, blogger DadCamp wrote that the show sends the wrong message to children because of its "continuous teasing and bullying": "The show is riddled with the kids calling each other stupid, dumb, and blockheads," DadCamp wrote. "Charlie Brown is supposed to be the hero. Instead, he is kicked and demeaned at every turn, even…

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