Beth Am Teens Take a Stand by Taking a Seat

Eighth- through 12-graders in Congregation Beth Am's post-B'nai Mitzvah program took a stand against bullying and other forms of intolerance in collaboration with the USA Network's "I Won't Stand For It" project.

Teens in Congregation Beth Am's post-B'nai Mitzvah program are taking a stand against various forms of intolerance. In a YouTube video taped at the temple, each participant wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the injustice that they won't tolerate.  The teens sat down to demonstrate their opposition to instances of hatred, bullying, ignorance, anti-semitism, violence and other injustices, chanting in unison, "We won't stand for it." The project was completed in conjunction with the USA Network's "I Won't Stand for it" project.

• Videos (1)

Poll: Are Schools Doing Enough to Stop Hazing, Bullying?

Three plaintiffs were added to a lawsuit against Maine West High School that alleges coaches condoned hazing.

A lawsuit against Maine West High School alleges that students were hazed and bullied, sometimes at the behest of coaches of some athletic teams. A police investigation into a hazing incident this year led to charges against six students. During a “campus run” the boy’s teammates grabbed him, according to the lawsuit, tore off his underwear, held him down so he could not resist, grabbed his testicles and sodomized him with their fingers and other foreign objects. Des Plaines police told the Chicago Sun-Times that they sought felony charges in the case, but Cook County prosecutors disagreed. Prosecutors said there was not enough evidence for the more serious charges and settled on misdemeanors, the Sun-Times reported. Since that initial …

•  93 Comments
• Photos (3)
• Videos (1)
• Documents (6)

Anti-Bullying Group Aims to do 'Great Things' in Buffalo Grove

Mike Terson is organizing a group of citizens who are interested in eradicating bullying in the community.

Could the bullying some day be as socially unacceptable as it is today to smoke indoors at work? That’s the hope of Mike Terson, who has expressed a desire to eradicate bullying since he ran unopposed for a trustee seat in 2011. Terson told fellow trustees this month that he’s taken early steps to form a team of community members who want to tackle the issue. “I’ve had some great conversations with some of our community leaders,” he said, noting that he recently convened a group that included elected officials, an elementary school principal and parents to discuss what can be done locally to prevent bullying. “It was a very productive meeting, some great ideas were shared and I think this group is going to do some great things in our …

•  11 Comments
• Photos (1)

Mike Terson

8:22 am on Saturday, July 28, 2012

Well said, Michael. Thank you for your support. I know that you have done work in our community that has had a large positive impact on many children, and for that I thank you. I think Mr. Bushey has a good point when he says that the adults have a huge affect on this issue, and we need more people like you and Mr. Greer.   more ›

Letters to the Editor

'Take a Stance' Against Bullying

Letter to the editor

Bullying has become a buzz word in the media over the last year or two; however, I am concerned that there is more talk than action on the subject, especially in our community. Whether it be instances I read about in the Police Blotter, or stories I hear first hand from other residents, there is no denying that bullying exists in our community and it really is somewhat of a socially acceptable behavior. After all, kids will be kids. Unless you are the parent of someone being bullied, there really is no reason for you to be concerned, right? For me, the key is the socially acceptable part. In my opinion, this is the biggest hurdle that needs to be overcome, and the solution to the problem. I remember a time when smoking cigarettes in an …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

Dave Kogan

12:07 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Here Here!   more ›

Academic Corner

When Teachers are Bullies

Is it a good idea to secretly videotape teachers?

We all know bullying is a problem in schools, but from a teacher? It sounds crazy, but teacher-bullies have recently been in the news quite a bit. Bullying students is awful enough, but in two of these cases the harassment was directed toward high school special education students. A special education teacher bullying students. Wow. Just…wow. In New Jersey, a 15-year-old student used his cell phone to record the teacher when nobody, not even his parents, believed he was being bullied. The video shows the special education teacher threatening the student, using profanity and speaking to the student in a degrading fashion. When confronted by the student’s father, the teacher said this was his way of motivating his students. Taking a page …

•  22 Comments
• Photos (1)

Sully

4:46 am on Monday, May 13, 2013

Lennie, I'm sure you would require verification- you know, proof, before you would publish such accusations, correct? That would be the responsible thing to do (As well as ethical if you're now calling yourself a publisher).   more ›

Editor's Corner

It's Time to be Constructive

I encourage the community to channel its passion to help make Buffalo Grove a better place to live.

As the recent conversation on Patch indicates, bullying is an area of high concern in this community. Comments have been posted from the perspectives of people involved with both football teams as well as by those not directly affected. In all cases, your passion on this topic is clear. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this forum. Only those who have witnessed or participated in a youth football game know for certain what happens on the field. That is true in any situation. While I have not observed youth bullying since I was a child myself, I think most would agree that it continues to be an unfortunate reality in our society, whether it occurs at school, during an extra-curricular program or in one’s own neighborhood. At this point…

• Photos (1)

Letters to the Editor

Terson Takes a Stand Against Bullying

Letter to the editor.

I have read the Letter to the Editor titled Football Coach Concerned About Bullying, as well as the dozens of comments that followed. I am not going to comment on the accusations being made by many, since I have no first hand knowledge as to their validity or lack there of. As a parent and leader in the community, I sincerely hope everyone (coaches, parents, athletes and fans) does whatever they can to make sure that bullying and intimidation of any kind does not exist in our sports programs or anywhere in our community. I am very familiar with the world of sports. I have coached at both the youth and high school levels, and I have worked for 3 professional sports teams over the past 17 years. What I do take exception to is comments like…

•  16 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letters to the Editor

Football Coach Concerned About Bullying

Letter to the editor.

Is the TCYFL (The Chicagoland Youth Football League) doing enough to stop the rampant unsportsmanlike conduct and bullying handed out each week by the Big Ten Buffalo Grove Lights football team led by Head Coach Joey Weber? The communities that have played them this year don’t think so. I also don’t believe they have done enough, if anything at all.  I coach the Lake Zurich Flames Lights team and we played Buffalo Grove on Sunday Sept. 25th in Buffalo Grove. During pre-game warm-ups the Buffalo Grove team jogged around my Lake Zurich team as we warmed up and verbally assaulted my players using profanities I cannot put in print in this family newspaper. A few minutes later they came jogging back around and singled out one of my players and …

•  190 Comments
• Photos (1)

Cristel Mohrman

2:23 pm on Thursday, October 20, 2011

Thank you all for sharing your views on this topic. At this time, I am closing this letter for comments. Please see my "letter from the editor" at http://patch.com/A-nbWz   more ›