It comes with the territory

I've just completed an interview for a pair of articles on Huffington Post, and the reactions have been both interesting and varied. The vast majority has been positive, even insightful, but a few have been less than constructive. I'm perfectly ok with that because I have developed a rather thick skin as a survival strategy. Life on the internet requires such armor. All this got me thinking about empathy, or rather the lack of it in some people.

Bush crashing

 I wrote this piece in 2010, while toying with the idea of writing a book about Steven. I think I realized somewhere during the process that it's the writing itself, the "doing" of it that's important, not the finished product. In the mean time, the story has taken an unexpected turn; I never expected at the time that this organization would become what it has. HNWS has become part of Steven's story, and it's still being written...

Phone tip line's time may have come

Police in London Ontario have laid criminal harassment charges in a case of cyber-bullying. According to a Toronto Sun article, eight female students at London South Collegiate Institute  were involved in the bullying activity. Police say that an important tool used to make the decision to charge the girls was an anonymous phone tip line set up on the school's website.

How is pop cuture affecting our kids?

Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail has published another good article on bullying and its connection to pop culture. One major influence in kids lives today is television. TV has always been accused of being  bad for us. My parent's generation used to tell us television would rot our minds and they may have been partially right about that. Today, television is just one influence among many, but it still has a major impact.

Just when I think I'm out...

Obviously, running an organization that deals with an issue so close to my heart will occasionally run the risk of creating emotional pain. It comes with the territory. Even so, when they hit, the triggers always seem to sneak up on me. You'd think I'd know better by now. On the other hand, I've got something to write about.

National Anti-bullying Month : How to deal with cyberbullying

This month is National Anti-bullying Month in the U.S. Unfortunately, the month hasn't begun well. This week, a reporter from LaCrosse Wisconsin was subjected to a cyber-bullying attack that so enraged her husband that he posted the offending email on Facebook. The note went viral, resulting in a flood of responses, not all kind. Jennifer Livingston of WKBT, the anchorperson that was the target of the attack responded on air. Her response can be seen in this video. Jennifer's answer to the anonymous attacker was