Lincoln-Way High Schools Take Bullying by the Horns

Bullying is bound to get you in hot water at Lincoln-Way High School District 210. A new online bullying reporting system is in place.

No longer does a kid have to battle bullying in fearful silence. At Lincoln-Way High School District 210, board members learned the details at their meeting Thursday at Lincoln-Way East High School of an online bully reporting system. Principal Steve Provis, of Lincoln-Way Central High School, presented the board with a PowerPoint that explained the ins and outs of the bullying reporting. On the Lincoln-Way High School District website, and on each of the four Lincoln-Way high schools’ web pages, is a new category called simply “Bully Reporting.” This new pull down gives students, parents, and community members a description of bullying and a reporting form to fill out and submit. On the district's website, the bullying reporting system is…

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Online Form Lets D159 Students, Parents Report Bullying

A new bullying survey, in both electronic and print forms, will be available on the district’s website this Friday.

Students and parents will soon be able to alert Mokena School District 159 officials about cases of bullying in any of the district's three schools via the internet. On Wednesday, the Board of Education was presented with a preview of the new online bullying survey. It is scheduled to be posted on the district’s website by late Friday afternoon. Superintendent Steve Stein said the idea came about a few months ago after some parents expressed concerns about the limited ways bullying could be reported. “It’s kind of one of those things that you know always exists, but a lot of times I think kids are apprehensive to report incidents of bullying," he said. "They think that it’s going to make things worse for them.”  Stein is hopeful that the …

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C. Martinez

8:20 pm on Friday, October 19, 2012

THE FORM IS UP! Check it out! http://www.mokena159.org/district/AntiBully.html   more ›

D159 Board Adopts Budget, Talks Bullying Reports

The board of education for the Mokena school district approved its 2012-13 budget and discussed options for an online bullying reporting system at its meeting Wednesday night.

The Mokena School District 159 Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt its proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year at its Wednesday, Sept. 19, meeting. The meeting was preceded by a public hearing on the budget, during which residents were free to comment. There was no public discussion. READ: D159 Approves Tentative Budget, Schedules Hearing The budget breaks down as follows: Having discussed the intricacies of the budget in-depth at previous meetings, the board members also had no discussion to add before the vote. Later in the meeting, the board discussed a possible addendum to the district's parent-student handbook regarding bullying. The item was submitted to the board for first reading by the Parent-Teacher Advisory …

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Tim Mcgivern

1:52 pm on Friday, September 21, 2012

Heidi you are doing a great job. Most people are afraid of retaliation. Been there done that. The retaliation followed my family through high school and to the junior college level.   more ›

Rachel's Challenge Promotes Kindness, Compassion at D159 Schools

The Mokena school district held a series of anti-bullying assemblies with Rachel's Challenge, a program started by the family of Columbine victim Rachel Joy Scott.

Mokena School District 159 held an assembly for parents of district children and members of the community at Mokena Junior High School on Thursday, Sept. 6, as part of its participation in the Rachel's Challenge program. The assembly was a culmination of several assemblies at all three district schools on Sept. 5 and 6 as an effort to encourage positive social behavior and prevent bullying. READ: D159 Board Changes Status of Transportation Director, Adjusts Budget Rachel's Challenge is named after Rachel Joy Scott, one of the students killed in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. She was known for being a positive influence in her school and community, and she left behind several journals and essays in which she wrote about how she…

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No Changes to D159 Bullying Policy—Yet

The Mokena School District 159 Board of Education heard from MJHS Principal Mike Rolinitis and parent Heidi Yergler Herrmann on the district's bullying policy, but held off on any changes.

After months of urging the Mokena School District 159 Board of Education to confront the issue of bullying within its schools, Heidi Yergler Herrmann got her wish. At the Wednesday, July 18, board meeting the Herrmann, Mokena Junior High School Principal Mike Rolinitis and the board reviewed the district's bullying policies. Although there was no action taken on the subject—yet—all of the board members, Rolinitis and Herrmann agreed that the discussion was a fruitful one. Rolinitas kicked off the discussion by defining several terms on bullying and outlining what procedures the district currently has in place in its student handbook to deal with bullying. He added that the key component in the district for dealing with bullying is first, …

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C. Martinez

11:19 am on Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Please come out to the school board meeting tonight. Let's get involved, participate and do what's best for our kids. Tonight (Wednesday) 7:00PM MES BAND ROOM. See you there! Unity in community! Come out parents and community members of Mokena!   more ›

District 159 Ready to Review Bullying Policy

Following a campaign by D159 parent Heidi Yergler Herrmann, the D159 Board of Education places a review of the district's bullying policy on its July 18 meeting agenda.

Heidi Yergler Hermann got her wish—sort of. After weeks of campaigning to step in front of the Mokena School District 159 Board of Education, Hermann was heard at the Wednesday, June 20, meeting of the board. Hermann, whose fourth-grade daughter was bullied for much of the previous school year, recently started a Facebook group to battle bullying throughout District 159. “I think the parents, the community presence really helped me make my point,” Yergler Hermann said. “I really do feel that things are going to change for the better.” Although Superintendent Steve Stein and Board President John Troy were absent from the meeting, Herrmann said that just getting some time before the board was good. Even better, she said, is that the board …

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Heidi Herrmann

9:56 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012

I was very impressed by Mr. Markham at this meeting as well. Being the first Board Meeting I have ever attended, I feel the same as RW Voter... I plan to be a regular fixture at more of these meetings... :)   more ›

'It's for the Kids': D159 Parent Rallies for Better Anti-Bullying Policy

Heidi Yergler Herrmann, a stay-at-home mom, found out her fourth-grader was being bullied at school and now she wants it to stop. Not only for her daughter, but for all the children in the district.

District 159 mom Heidi Yergler Herrmann doesn't want to take any chances. Bullying at school isn't something to be taken lightly, and she worries that's exactly how the district handles it. Herrmann's daughter spoke of bullying in school this year—and in her voice, Herrmann heard a call to action. Herrmann recently started a Facebook group to unite parents looking to make a change in the way the school district handles bullying.  Although her efforts stem from her daughter's troubles this year, Herrmann said it isn't just about her child—it's about all of them. She added that although she is a stay-at-home mother with no background in anti-bullying, she is willing to learn. “I'm willing to investigate programs, to do the research,” she …

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Southland Stories

Mean Girls: Jenny McCarthy's High School Days

The Mother McAuley grad told Dr. Drew on HLN last week that she was bullied so much she tried to be a teacher's pet to escape the torment.

Seems like every time Jenny McCarthy talks about her high school days, someone in the south suburbs gets mad. October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month, and Southland native Jenny McCarthy joined Dr. Drew Pinsky on HLN last week to talk about bullying and her experience on the South Side of Chicago at Mother McAuley. "The girls were vicious in an all-girls Catholic school," says Jenny McCarthy, describing how she was beat up and had her hair set on fire by other girls at school and in her neighborhood. I watched about 20 minutes of the TV interview as the show broadcast photographs of a teen-aged McCarthy from the 1980s, a smiling poofy-blonde cheerleader. "If you saw a picture of my hair back in the day ... I was a perfect target…

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WarriorMom

6:47 am on Monday, August 20, 2012

Wake up Ostracizing, Clicks that EXCLUDE all have the same effect. One day the deep dark secrets of Beverl/SW Schools/ will come out. My friend and I were both hit by our counselor.   more ›

Should Kids Fear the Bully or the School's Fighting Policy?

Schoolyard confrontation calls into question zero tolerance. This mom is glad she taught her daughter how to punch.

During third-grade recess, my daughter was playing tag with a group of kids at the far end of the playground. As she ran, a boy jumped out and clothes-lined her. As she got up, he grabbed her by the throat so hard that he left red marks on the right side of her neck. Instinctively, she jabbed him in the gut and he dropped. This was the only part the recess monitor witnessed. After threatening my daughter with disciplinary action, both kids were taken to the principal who was left to sort out the confusion. After listening to eyewitness accounts of the incident, my daughter was not disciplined but was reminded of the importance of finding an adult at all times to avoid this situation in the future. If she had waited for an adult to step in…

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Cathleen

10:45 am on Friday, October 7, 2011

I agree with you "K French", that social media has brought bullying to a whole new level. That definitely does start and end with parents, though. I have a 4th grade daughter that is angry with me because I will not allow her to have a Facebook page. The fact is that a number of her peers ARE on Facebook. These kids see each other everyday...what do they need to say to each other on Facebook? …   more ›

Is Bullying a Necessary Part of Growing Up? MomTalk Q&A

How do parents and teachers separate the harmful from the harmless when it comes to kids picking on other kids?

Maybe you were never on the receiving end of the class bully. Or you stood by, grateful not to be in the crosshairs, as another child was ridiculed. Whatever the case, bullying is as alive today as it was when we were in school. Except the stakes are higher. It comes in the form of anonymous posts on social networking sites or threatening messages left on a child's cell phone. The text is mightier than the sword. This new age of bullying has forced teachers and parents to take a more proactive approach. The "kids will be kids" adage doesn't work today and we can no longer use it to disregard malicious and harmful behavior. Schools take the zero tolerance approach, and that's a good thing. But does it soften our children and teach them not …

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