Speaker targeting bullies
Photo 
Jodee Blanco
IF YOU GO
Bullying expert Jodee Blanco will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at St. John Vianney School, 1250 E. Racine St. Janesville. A question session and book signing will follow.
The event is free and open to the public. Parents, teachers and others are encouraged to attend. Parents are encouraged to bring their children.
For more information, go online to jodeeblanco.com.
JANESVILLE — Jodee Blanco is coming to town to talk about one of the worst things a kid can face in school: bullying.
The author, speaker and consultant was a victim of bullies in her youth. She will speak Thursday to St. John Vianney Catholic School students and teachers and to the general public in a free presentation Thursday evening.
St. John Vianney Principal Judi Dillon said she and her staff saw Blanco at the National Catholic Educational Association convention in April, and Blanco’s sessions were packed.
“What impressed me so much was her response to the bullies as well as the victims, but also those who are bystanders,” Dillon said.
Dillon said her school is no different from most schools when it comes to bullying, “but I think the impetus for this was that many of my teachers saw her speak and were so moved that they all came back and said we should get her to our school.”
While bullying doesn’t happen to every student, it happens in most schools.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that nearly one-third of students ages 12-18 in a 2007 survey said they had been bullied.
Twenty-one percent of students surveyed said they had been made fun of; 18 percent reported being the subject of rumors; 11 percent said that they were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on.
Other students said they were threatened, excluded from activities, made to do things they did not want to do or had their property destroyed by bullies.
Blanco has separate messages for students, teachers and parents.
“My primary message to students is threefold: Bullying is not just joking around, it damages you for life; bullying just isn’t the mean things you do, it’s all the nice things you never do. And if you’re being bullied or shunned, there’s nothing wrong with you, it’s everything that’s right about you that makes you a target, and that you shouldn’t change for anyone, it is those who put you down who need to change,” Blanco said in a summary provided to the Gazette.
Blanco’s expertise comes not from professional training in counseling or psychology but rather her own experience as a victim and contacts with numerous bullies and victims who talk to her as she speaks around the country.
“From fifth grade through the end of high school, she was rejected and tormented by her peers simply for being different and knows firsthand what it’s like to contemplate retaliation,” according to her biography.
Blanco discusses her own bullying experiences with all her audiences.
For parents, she includes warning signs your child may be a bully or a victim, how to intervene, how to deal with the parents of the bullies or the victim, how to deal with the school, how to find and work with a therapist, why some children are targeted more than others and warning signs your child may be contemplating violence.
Dillon’s hopes for her staff: “She’s going to raise our awareness, and we are going to react to it and figure out how to support those kids who feel like they’re being bullied and then to address the bullies themselves.”
Sep 13, 2010 at 10:58 a.m.
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I think Sundays editorial of Jennifer Keach is an excellent example of bullying.
Sep 11, 2010 at 12:46 p.m.
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kangaroojack: Right on! Looking back, I wonder how things would have turned out differently had I stood up to certain kids in grade school. The few times I did, it worked. I am sure violence isn't the recommendation of the experts, but for boys in particular, there can come a time when it's the best way to deal with a bully.
Sep 11, 2010 at 12:38 p.m.
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I also was a target of bullies. Some days I would fake sick just to stay home from school. I was chubby and had glasses and of course, my infamous moles! Lot's of the boys called me "mole woman" because of moles on my face, but now they are considered beauty marks. Four eyes was another popular name for me. I never got beat up, but I was scared anyways. I hope none of my grandkids go through this. My daughter went through it, too. She rebelled though in a different way by becoming one of them (she no longer is). It is sad that this goes on in our schools, but how do we stop it? Kids can be cruel and like the first poster said, some parents encourage it. JMO
Sep 11, 2010 at 12:23 p.m.
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What if the teachers are the problem? Do you think that teachers who humiliate students with belittling remarks will see themselves in this training and adjust their behavior accordingly?
Sep 11, 2010 at 3:57 a.m.
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Well I used to be the target for them in school. Had 2 that would constantly harass me, throw things at me, trip and such. Tried ignoring them and walking away but after a while it got old. It stopped after I drilled the biggest one right in the mouth when they kept pushing me down when I was walking home. Funny how the smaller one took off running after that and the bigger one was on the ground bleeding and crying. The irony was I got pulled into the principals office the next day and was accused of bullying the big kid (who was about about 200lbs and me being a whole buck 30). Many times the victim just standing up for themselves will make bullies back off and leave them alone.
As for dealing with parents of bullies, many of them refuse to believe that their 'precious' is doing this. Others are actually proud that their kid is a bully.
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