Category: Meetings

Bullying — persistent, aggressive behavior among school aged children — has received considerable public attention recently after several high-profile cases resulted in the deaths of young victims.

The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club will examine this troubling social phenomenon at its meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 16, in the lower level of the LOW Clubhouse.

Alison Walden, school counselor at Locust Grove Middle School, will talk about bullying in Orange County Schools and describe what is being done locally to address the issue.

The Orange County School Division uses components of a bullying-prevention program called Olweus for about five years. The program, which was developed by Dr. Dan Olweus, research professor of psychology at the University of Bergen in Norway, works to build positive relationships among students and involves all students, not just those who are being bullied or who are bullying others. The importance of support from parents and guardians, faculty and staff and members of the general public in preventing bullying is also addressed.

Orange County Schools’ Web site states “The staff of Orange County Public Schools is committed to creating a safe school environment, free of bullying and harassment.”

Ms. Walden, who lives in Charlottesville, has been a school counselor for 22 years and has been at Locust Grove Middle School since it opened. Prior to that she taught 6th and 4th grades at Prospect Heights School for 14 years.

She has four degrees, including a master’s degree and an educational specialist degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and bachelor’s degrees from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and Hollins University in Roanoke.

Ms. Walden is a sustaining member of the Junior League in Charlottesville, a member of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation and is an elector of Grace Episcopal Church in Keswick.

Guests are welcome.

For more information, please follow the links below:

• Locust Grove Middle School
• Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
• stopbullying.gov
• Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center

Details to be announced.

Roundtable on issues of interest.

Lori Haas, a representative of the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, urged a crowd of about 80 people at the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse Feb. 24, to dial up pressure on their elected representatives to address gun violence in our country with significant reforms that include universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, limits on the size of magazines and strong penalties for gun trafficking.

“We have immense momentum on this issue, immense momentum,” Ms. Haas said. “Do we need more? Absolutely!”

She urged citizens to call the offices of their state and national representatives, but not just once.

“Make the call over and over and over again,” she said. “If they hear from you 30 times, that’s OK.”

“Call every single day or two times a day or five or 10, as many times as you can. It will have an impact. I promise it matters. I promise it will help.”

Even though the polls show that 92 percent of Americans support background checks for gun purchases, legislators hear more often from the highly vocal members of the National Rifle Association and its highly funded lobbyists, she said.

“We can and we have regulated fully automatic machine guns in this country. It’s illegal to own them. So we’ve done it with one piece of hardware, I think we can do it with another,” Ms. Haas said.

But a ban on assault weapons is not enough, she said. “We want the full package … because we believe that will have the greatest effect on the gun violence that is just ripping our country apart.”

Ms. Haas, whose daughter Emily was wounded in the deadly attack at Virginia Tech in 2007, said the NRA wants to feed a climate of fear to boost the sales of guns and ammunition. In order to accomplish their goals, they are taking advantage of a “resurrectionist mentality” among some people. “These are people who think that the Second Amendment says it’s OK to overthrow your own government or to arm youselves so the government can’t tell you what to do,” she said.

Ms. Haas said it has been proven that strong gun laws work. She cited a difference of 3.6 gun deaths per 100,000 population in states with strong laws, compared to 10.85 in Alaska, the state with the weakest laws.

Ms. Haas said she will keep the club informed of progress as the effort to control gun violence goes forward.

•  CPGV Action Alert for Feb. 17, 2013