2018
October
11
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

October 11, 2018
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Kim Campbell
Culture & Education Editor

What if we retired the word “bullying”?

It’s a bold suggestion, especially during Bullying Prevention Month. But setting aside a word educators, parents, and students often disagree on is exactly what expert and veteran administrator Jim Dillon suggested in a column last week.

As a former teacher, I understand what he’s getting at: Disputes over whether a behavior constitutes bullying can hamper effectively addressing the underlying problem. More importantly, he notes, a criminal justice framework is often applied in schools to acts that are not always observable.

Mr. Dillon is not implying that bullying doesn’t happen, or that it shouldn’t be dealt with using state laws and policies, when necessary. Parents are most worried about their children being bullied, according to surveys. And the prevalence of social media adds to those concerns. Just this week, Instagram announced new measures to combat such harassment.

Even so, Dillon makes a compelling case for why it’s time to let go. The word is tied to the criminal justice approach, which makes people more self-centered, because of fear of repercussions. That approach also focuses on perpetrators and victims, disempowering bystanders, whom research suggests are a key deterrent. Rather than “merely stopping a negative behavior,” he suggests reframing the problem to make it a positive challenge, where a whole school community (or, potentially, one online) is involved in creating a safe environment. 

That is sometimes easier said than done. But efforts to promote kindness and inclusion, like Unity Day on Oct. 24 and Instagram’s new “kindness camera effect,” offer opportunities to get the conversation started.  

Now here are our five stories for your Thursday.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Michael Bonfigli/Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Bernardo Vigil Rendon works at a bicycle shop in Baltimore owned by its employees. The pay isn’t huge, he says, but the job comes with perks that are unusual for such a small shop: a retirement savings plan, no staff cuts in the off-season, and a familial atmosphere. He supports the replacement of capitalism with socialism.
SOURCE:

Gallup poll conducted July 30-Aug. 5

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff
Vahid Salemi/AP/FILE
A woman in Tehran, Iran, drove past a billboard for a Western brand in 2015. Today even well-heeled Iranians complain about how renewed US economic sanctions are causing economic volatility and raising prices.
GDA/AP
Every month, nearly 200 million users around the world search for information on Wikipedia, making the online encyclopedia the fifth-most-used website in the world.

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A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

A message of love

Ajay Verma/Reuters
Schoolgirls in Chandigarh, India, wave during celebrations Oct. 11 to mark International Day of the Girl Child, an annual United Nations initiative. This year’s theme: 'With Her: A Skilled GirlForce,' marks the start of a yearlong effort to boost entrepreneurship and help prepare young women worldwide. The UN estimates that 600 million adolescent girls will start work in the next decade.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. We are following the effects of hurricane Michael. Watch for our coverage in the coming days. 

We also want to leave you with some news from Asia: This story, on Nepal's artists aiding in earthquake restoration efforts, written by Monitor contributor Atul Bhattarai, recently received an award from the South Asian Journalists Association.  

More issues

2018
October
11
Thursday
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