With stories about anti-gay bias crimes and bullying in the news almost every day, and with reports of at least six gay student suicides across the county in the first few weeks of school, administrators, teachers and students have been working to make sure nothing like that happens in Rockville Centre schools. more

It used to be that when we sent our children, our precious little cargo, off to their first day of school, all we had to say was, “Look both ways when you cross the street” or “Don’t talk to strangers” or “Come right home after school.” more

With the school year complete and with summer upon us, bullying won’t be a problem for a couple of months, right? Wrong. more

A good portion of last week’s news cycle focused on the rise of school bullies. Tragically, two young girls, including a Suffolk County teen, took their own lives after being pushed to the edge by bullies. more

Anyone who’s read “Lord of the Flies” knows the great capacity children have for savagery. Still, the recent suicide of a 15-year-old high school girl, following months of brutal bullying, shocks us — hopefully into action. more

Last week I presented the first installment of an interview with John Halligan, a father whose son was a victim of school bullying and committed suicide. The interview is a natural outgrowth of a recent mini-series that ran in the Principal's Office about bullying and anti-bullying programs. more

Several weeks ago, I ran a two-part series on bullying and what schools are trying to do to deal with this growing problem. Shortly after, I caught the last few minutes of a TV interview with John Halligan, whose son Ryan was a victim of bullying and ultimately committed suicide. It was a riveting, heart-wrenching, and eye-opening talk. I wanted to share his story with my readers with a firsthand account of what occurred and tried to track John down via the Internet. more

Talk about timeliness. Last week's column, "Responding to a Trio of Tragedies," was followed by three more incidents this week: a principal held hostage, resulting in his school going into lockdown; a 13-year-old boy committing suicide in the Bronx; and a report that two-thirds of all middle school students say they have been bullied. In each case, there was no outlet for rage. It is incumbent on us to prevent anger from escalating to that point. This week, I will examine a number of the anti-bullying programs that are proliferating in the schools, from the elementary to even the college levels. more