Founder says he hopes Nova Scotians take lead on changing bully culture

Travis Price stands in front of a projection of a new website he developed with the Canadian Red Cross for Pink Day— an anti-bullying campaign— Tuesday morning at the Atlantic Canadian Red Cross headquarters in Burnside.

Anti-bully advocate sets up Pink Day website

A former Nova Scotia high school student who started a pink T-shirt campaign to combat bullying has launched a website to promote his cause.

Six years ago, Travis Price urged students at his school to wear pink T-shirts in defiance of bullies who had harassed a younger boy the day before for wearing pink.

The program has spread to many schools in the province, and Price says he wants the concept to find wider acceptance.

The site includes connections to anti-bullying programs designed for young people and parents by the Canadian Red Cross.

Paul Kells, the founder of Up-standers, a network of people committed to respectful workplaces and schools, says in a news release he's convinced the program will become as pervasive as anti-smoking campaigns.

The website is found at www.pinkday.ca.

NSW students share their experiences of bullying in schools

THEY are the harrowing first-hand accounts of the violence and shattering aftermath of schoolyard bullying.

Students are producing poignant stories, poems, songs and posters as part of the NSW Department of Education's "Bullying. No way" campaign to stop playground violence.

One student, from year 7 at Deniliquin High School, in the state's south west, wrote:

"The bully is like a tiger circling me like prey

The bully throws a punch, 'smack'.

My eye blows up like a balloon,

The bully throws another punch, 'crunch',

My nose is running like a river.

The bully yells at me,

I scream for help."

An account by a year 8 student at the same school recalls: "I stumbled on a loose shoelace, smashed into the ground. I scrambled to my knees, things went really blurry. It was like I was blind, I put my hand to my forehead, red, and that's all I remember before Ben walked up to me and started kicking and punching me. The pain was brutal, my ribs were on fire, I choked on my words, spluttering blood, teeth missing, and bruises covering me from head to toe."

The education department hopes the campaign will not only give a safe learning environment where every student feels supported, respected, valued, but will also encourage other students not to tolerate bullies picking on fellow pupils.

"The Bullying. No Way website provides information and resources for teachers, parents and all school age children," a department spokesman said. "Many schools use the website when they are developing their strategies to prevent and respond to bullying in schools."

He said students writing reflective pieces allows them to understand the effects of bullying and develop positive bystander behaviour.

"Activities such as these may help students to connect with and reflect on the experiences and feelings of others," the spokesman said.

"And help them to understand both the effects of bullying behaviour and the need for positive bystander behaviour."

But psychologists warn that while the practice could be therapeutic, teachers must be careful that the poems and stories don't lead to more students being victimised.

"I don't know how useful that concept is," child and educational psychologist Andrew Greenfield said.

"Children telling their story is not a bad thing. But naming the kid who wrote it is not a great idea.

"I think it is fine if it is anonymous as it is an outlet for that child to let their feelings out, but putting a name to it isn't clever because that kid could be subjected to more bullying.

"They may be victimised and that can have a whole lot of other implications."

Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg also believes the exercise could be beneficial but he says schools must be careful the accounts are not too graphic to avoid traumatising other students.

"I do think it can be quite cathartic for students," Dr Carr-Gregg said.

"I also believe it is important that we have a consciousness raising generally in society around bullying because there are too many people with their head in the sand about the damage it does and the extent of the problem.

"However, if it is too graphic, then I would hope that the school exercises a degree of censorship because if it is too graphic, it could have the potential to traumatise some of the readers which would be counterproductive."

Associate Professor Caroline Hunt, clinical training director at the University of Sydney's School of Psychology, said while this could be a positive way to combat bullying, it could also lead to students being labelled as victims of bullying.

"The evidence is if there are exercises kids can do to feel like they are being supported by others, then that is helpful.

"The question is whether this fits into that category," Dr Hunt said.

"What would spring to mind with me is this could lead to them getting a reputation as a victim of bullying from other peers who didn't know.

"I guess if everybody is reading them and identifying there are other kids being victimised, they might feel like they are not the only one. But they need to have people to talk to, rather than just vent by writing things down."

A bully pulpit: Humiliation in cyberspace deadly to teens

Anna Combrink feels a haunting connection to Audrie Pott and Rehtaeh Parsons - the tragic teens who took their own lives in recently revealed cases of alleged rape and sexual cyberbullying.

Like the two girls from opposite coasts, Combrink was raped at age 15 by a fellow high school student, she told the Daily News Thursday.

Unlike Pott and Parsons, she had only one attacker and no compromising photos to deflect - but she too was publicly humiliated and contemplated suicide, she said.

"It was horrible," Combrink, of Burleson, Texas, said. "First it was the loss of innocence, the loss of feeling safe in your own body. Then it was the loss of my social group."

The Christian choir singer from a sleepy Dallas suburb said she was shocked when the first friend she confided in sent out gossipy text messages suggesting the sex was consensual.

Cruel comments and taunting poems soon followed on social media, she said.

"My entire social circle was in the choir, and I was told I wasn't welcome anymore," she recalled. "I remember they had cookies one day and announced, 'Girls who cry rape don't get cookies, and those who talk to them don't get cookies either.'"

She said her family and key officials believed and supported her, but the doubt from her peers caused her to wonder, "Did I really say no enough? Did I fight enough?"

Father stormed into playground to attack 11-year-old 'school bully'

A father who stormed into a primary school playground and attacked an 11-year-old boy in front of parents has been fined £300.

The 57-year-old father-of-two went to "mete out summary justice" over allegations that the boy and his friends had been bullying his daughter.

He left the 11-year-old boy with two cut knees and in tears after shoving him over twice in front of his friends and parents dropping their children off for the start of the school day.

The father was found guilty of assault after trying to blame the incident on his own daughter for pushing him into the "bully" who had been tormenting her.

The man, from Perth, was found guilty of assaulting and injuring the primary six pupil at a school in the city on January 8 by pushing him to the ground.

Fiscal depute John Malpass told Perth Sheriff Court: "He attended at the school yard to seek out some retribution on behalf of his daughter and pushed the boy on two occasions.

"He was there, in his own words, to speak to the boy, not the boy's parents. It was quite clear he was there to mete out some summary justice to the child he perceived was bullying his daughter.

"He was there to sort out the boy and sort him out he did. There was a deliberate act here on his part. His daughter admitted her father was angry and annoyed."

The court was told that the girl had been pushed over in the playground the day before and had gone home to report to her father that she was being bullied again.

However, Mr Malpass said: "Significantly, it wasn't about bullying. It was about rowdy conduct. It was a horseplay incident and not directly bullying."

In evidence, the father said he had gone to speak to the boy and had stumbled into him when his own daughter had pushed him towards the boy. He admitted that he had not offered any assistance to the boy when he left the scene in tears and with injuries to both of his knees.

Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "I am satisfied with the Crown evidence in this case. I regard the evidence given by the accused and his witness as inherently unlikely. It seems a huge coincidence that a young girl could push her father on two occasions and as a result knock the boy over.

"It seems extraordinary to me that a father would come in to school to discuss bullying with a child and then tolerate his daughter pushing him in that way."

Cartoon Network Continues The Battle Against Bullying with 'The Bully Effect'

Cartoon Network continues the battle against bullying with a special commercial-free presentation of CNN’s half-hour documentaryThe Bully Effect on Sunday, April 28 at 5:30 and 8p.m. (ET/PT).

The new documentary—hosted by out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper—chronicles the journey of 14-year-old Alex Libby, whose emotional life was both restored and wonderfully activated because someone spoke up in his defense. For Libby, slurs, threats, and beatings at school were a daily occurrence until filmmaker Lee Hirsch highlighted the young man’s story in his 2011 documentary Bully. Since then, he has become an anti-bullying rock star with appearances on national television and a visit to the White House.

The Bully Effect is a part of Cartoon Network’s Stop Bullying: Speak Up initiative—a multi-platform pro-social campaign founded in 2010 which utilizes video, print, and online resources to raise awareness and empower young people to speak up against bullying when it occurs. “Our campaign is all about giving kids the confidence and the competence to know how to speak up when they see their friends get picked on,” says Alice Cahn, Cartoon Network’s vice president of social responsibility.  “We launched Stop Bullying: Speak Up as a direct result of audience research. When we asked kids to tell us what issue worries them most where they feel they can make a difference, the thing they said most was, ‘I see my friends get picked on. I know I want to do something. Show me what to do.’”

As a mother raising her children together with her partner in New York, the campaign’s mission is personal for Cahn—and one she knows requires continuous effort. “This is not an issue you can address once and fix,” she says. “That’s where the power of an entertainment brand, where kids go every day because they want to, can help. Sending the message that no one deserves to be bullied or picked on and saying it consistently is what it’s going to take to make a change.”

Nevertheless, Cahn is aware young people need more than lectures and rules to effect change. They also need visible role models who are both relatable and inspiring. “We wanted to go back and revisit some of the young people that were involved in Lee Hirsch’s Bully movie to show what had happened when that film spoke up for them and became an active bystander on their behalf,” she says, explaining Cartoon Network’s motivation to produce The Bully Effect. “This story of Alex—who is the same age as our target audience—kids look at him and think, ‘That could be me. That could be my friend.’ Showing what happened to him, how his life changed when someone spoke up for him, and how he’s now become an advocate for other young people is one of those really motivational stories where kids see a real kid like themselves.”

Both airings of The Bully Effect on April 28 will be accompanied by an online Q&A with Anderson Cooper and bullying prevention expert Rosalind Wiseman. Cartoon Network also plans to make the documentary available on their website beginning Monday, April 29 as well as YouTube and to cable and satellite customers through VOD for two weeks following the premiere telecast.

While the Stop Bullying: Speak Up initiative has made a concerted  effort to target LGBT youth by partnering with organizations such as GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), Cahn says she hopes to see Cartoon Network reach further by incorporating LGBT characters and their families into future programing. “Our job as television broadcasters is to offer kids a mirror and a window,” she says. “Through that mirror they should see their lives reflected and through that window they should see people, places, and ideas that they don’t see in their lives. I would hope that youth television will continue to evolve so that we provide a positive, accurate, and broad mirror and window for all young people and the adults who care for them.”

Until then, documentaries like The Bully Effect continue to lay the groundwork for a brighter future—a goal Cahn vows Cartoon network will continually strive toward.  “We will continue doing this and contribute to that social change,” she says. “We really believe by putting this information out there, having it be practical, having it be actionable and giving them—not just strategies—but real tactics that make them feel confident and competent that we can help create climates in schools and communities where bullying is not tolerated.”

Bully thrashes child in public, no one intervenes

An undated video has emerged that shows a supposedly eight-year old child beaten by an adult as a group of people looked on.

Apparently, the child was meted out the punishment for colliding with an old woman, which led her to fall down.

The boy was crying hysterically but no one from public intervened to save him. Only a woman was heard in the video saying: "Leave him alone, he's a little boy," but no one listened to her.

'Predatory bully' jailed for sex with girl, 14

A "predatory bully" who groomed a girl from the age of 12 or 13 and later had sex with her has been jailed for four years and three months.

Mohammed Imran Amjad, 26, arrogantly shrugged his shoulders when the girl's mother said her daughter was underage and told him to stay away.

He continued to drive her around the streets of East Lancashire in his silver BMW before he went on to have sex with her when she was 14 years old.

Amjad groomed the youngster after he was given her mobile phone number, said prosecutors.

When confronted by the girl's mother, the defendant replied: "Who the f*** are you?"

He was said to have "simply shrugged his shoulders and walked away" when he was accused of being involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship with the girl.

The mother contacted the police but the girl refused to make a complaint at the time and the relationship continued.

Amjad, of Halifax Road, Brierfield, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a child and three counts of child abduction between April 2009 and October 2010.

He entered the pleas just before the girl was due to be cross-examined during his trial at Manchester Crown Court last month.

The jury was told that the girl's evidence had changed significantly from earlier statements to police in which she claimed she did not consent to sex with Amjad.

She had previously claimed she was taken to a house in Sackville Street, Brierfield, where a number of Asian men gathered to drink, take drugs and abuse young girls.

Jurors were ordered to return not guilty verdicts on various other allegations against Amjad and five other defendants, including rape, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and witness intimidation.

Following sentencing today at Burnley Crown Court, Chris Long, deputy chief crown prosecutor at CPS North West, said: "Mohammed Imran Amjad was a predatory bully who befriended the victim when she was just 12 or 13 years old. He took advantage of her young age and vulnerability by abducting and sexually assaulting her over a period of time.

"He was well aware that the victim was underage yet he continued to corrupt and abuse her for his own gratification, wielding his power over her and coercing her into submission.

"The CPS has been determined to bring Mohammed Imran Amjad to justice...and he has now been imprisoned for his truly appalling crimes."

Quebec bullying victim finds respect with social media plea

A 14-year-old private school student on Montreal's South Shore who had been the victim of vicious bullying found classmates rallying to his aid after his story exploded on social media.

For months, the boy was the target of insults at school. He was ignored at lunchtime and overlooked as classmates formed groups for schoolwork.

He cried when he was at home alone, out of view of his classmates.

He finally confided in a Grade 10 student on the bus, who encouraged the younger boy to speak out about his experience.

Radio Canada reporter Gino Harel, who has followed the boy's story,said the 14-year-old poured out his heart on Facebook. To protect his identity, the student is known only as Mathieu in reports.

"I'm not asking for friends, but only to be respected," the Facebook entry reads.

"I'm making the choice to stand up and fight against this injustice. No one should have to go through this. It makes for a sad life."

Moving the message forward

The older student was touched by that plea and decided to take it further. He sent Mathieu's message to the administrators of the website ConneriesQc.com, a usually light-hearted meme-aggregate site that's popular with teens in Quebec.

Along with an editorial note denouncing bullying, the site published Mathieu's Facebook appeal on April 17.

The reaction was immediate. Young people starting sending in messages of encouragement and their own stories of being a bullying victim.

Within minutes, the entry had a thousand of "likes" — and even more shares and comments.

Swell of support

Mathieu was flooded with supportive messages from classmates, as well as some apologies for past treatment of the 14-year-old.

At school, the reaction snowballed. Mathieu was met with applause in the hallways.

"They hugged him they told him he was courageous to do this and that they were behind him," said Harel.

"This kid was overwhelmed by this welcoming."

Jacques Gravel, a vice-principal at the school, said there was plan in place to fight bullying, and the school tried to help Mathieu before he spoke out online, but without success.

"Young people have proven that, just as we're raising questions about social networks, there are smart ways they can be used," he said.

"As for Mathieu, he [said] that it was the best day of his life, that he was happy and excited."

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Royal & Ancient 'will not bully' golf clubs into accepting women members

Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the Royal & Ancient, has insisted the governing body will not "bully" clubs such as Muirfield into altering their male-only membership policy.

Augusta National's admission of its first female members, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, allied to the return of the Open Championship to Muirfield in July, have placed claims of gender discrimination by the R&A back on the agenda. Muirfield is one of three homes to the Open – Royal St George's and Royal Troon are the others – which controversially have no women as part of their membership.

"To think that the R&A might say to a club like Muirfield: 'You are not going to have the Open any more unless you change your policy', is frankly a bullying position that we would never take," Dawson said. "Muirfield has a huge history of the Open Championship, this will be the 16th time it has been played there, and who are we to say what they should do because they are behaving perfectly legally.

"We borrow Muirfield's golf course for two or three weeks every 10 years. They allow us to stage the Open Championship at their golf course. Personally, I think this idea that it sends out a dreadful message to the world is considerably overblown, but that is my own opinion. We don't see it as our role to attack golf clubs which are behaving perfectly legally."

Dawson, moreover, pointed to examples of female-only golf clubs, both in St Andrews and Troon. "There is no pressure for a mixed-gender club in St Andrews," he said. "People are very happy to be able to join the clubs as they are and we intermingle, there are social events between the clubs all the time."

While that may be a valid point to debate, the establishment of such places happened back in a time when golf and society were far more male-dominated environments than today. Elsewhere, life has moved on. Moreover, pointing to something being within the law is one thing; the morality of taking the biggest golf event in Britain to a club with Muirfield's history is quite another.

"I don't actually believe that the Open being played at Royal St George's or Muirfield or Troon does have the negative impact suggested," Dawson said. "I don't see evidence of it.

"I understand that people might want to be against single-sex clubs but I don't believe that a few single-sex clubs, even if the Open is held at one of them, materially affects participation in the game of golf.

"My personal position is that I totally believe in equality but I do also believe that there are times when men need to socialise with men and women need to socialise with women.

"I think that reflects majority opinion and I don't think there's much wrong with that as long as nobody is disadvantaged by it. From the R&A's perspective, if I thought it was materially affecting participation I think we'd have a very different view because ultimately we are here to do what's good for golf, not just what's good for the R&A.

"Our primary duty as far as the Open is concerned is to do what's good for the Championship – and to kick venues like Royal St George's, Muirfield and Troon into touch would not be good for The Open. We wouldn't think of doing it."

It must be remembered, though, that the Open's championship committee – which runs the event – is comprised entirely of R&A members. The R&A itself is male only. Before the likes of Muirfield could be pressed further on its policy in an Open context, that would have to change.

When linked to the positive coverage Augusta received for the admission of female members, Dawson was asked if the same would apply to the R&A, should it follow suit. "That's a logical extension of it," he replied. "But I will caveat it by saying that admitting a small number of women members, while it would send out a potentially positive message, I don't actually think it would change very much in British golf.

"Because one club does one thing at a certain time, it doesn't lead logically to the fact that a club somewhere else has to do the same thing at the same time. But I do not deny that step Augusta made was a very positive one."

Just don't expect those in Scotland to follow suit. Anytime soon, at least.

Rehtaeh Parsons' mom, N.S. premier to meet with Harper

Two weeks after going public with the story of her daughter’s death following a suicide attempt, Leah Parsons of Nova Scotia will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss proposed changes to the Criminal Code.

Parsons is scheduled to meet with Harper and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter today.

The death of Rehtaeh Parsons after she was bullied has been reported on around the globe. (Stephen Puddicomb/CBC)

According to Parsons, four boys sexually assaulted her daughter when she was 15. Rehtaeh was then said to have been mocked by classmates, enduring relentless harassment and humiliation after a photo of the attack was circulated at her Cole Harbour, N.S., school and on social media.

On April 7, Rehtaeh was taken off life support after attempting to take her own life a few days earlier. She was 17.

The public outcry over the case prompted the Nova Scotia government to announce a plan for an independent review into both the police investigation and the Crown attorney’s office that advised police not to lay charges in Rehtaeh’s case.

But Halifax privacy lawyer David Fraser told the CBC radio showMaritime Noon that policymakers shouldn’t be too hasty coming up with laws “in the heat of the moment.”

“We have laws related to sexual assault, we have laws related to people engaging in sexual activity without adequate consent, we have laws related to the possession of child pornography and the dissemination of child pornography. It would seem, at least based on the information that’s out there, that these laws should be applicable in these circumstances,” said Fraser.

“But if we have an inquiry that delves into it, that looks into the adequacy of the investigation, the adequacy of the investigative tools that the police have at their disposal, and also the adequacy of the laws — perhaps one of the recommendations will be to tweak things, but I really do hesitate, in the heat of the moment, to come up with new laws that might have unforeseen consequences, particularly when it appears that the laws we have in place right now should be up to the task.”

Dexter says new technology needs new laws

Dexter does not share Fraser’s view on existing legislation.

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter and Prime Minister Stephen Harper will meet with Leah Parsons to discuss possible changes to the Criminal Code. (CBC)

“I just profoundly disagree,” said Dexter. “The simple fact of the matter is that these are new kinds of technology, they give rise to events that society has not dealt with in the past and the only way to drive home that the things that are being done are unacceptable, is to have sanctions that reflect the seriousness that we take these events, these kinds of activities.”

Dexter said there’s a need to clarify where federal jurisdiction begins and where provincial jurisdiction ends when it comes to cases involving the use of social media technology.

“We’ll see I guess, from a review of the investigation whether or not there were gaps in that ... but this is another thing that I think we need to talk to the prime minister about — is this whole question of, in a system that overlaps between provincial and federal jurisdiction, how do we ensure in these kinds of emerging technologies, these emerging activities, that there is not a gap in those activities.”

He said modern technology is a double-edged sword.

“New technology has many benefits, it creates awareness and understanding and connects people but there is also a dark side to that technology and when it is misused it can cause great harm to people. And the question is, how do we as a society respond to that?” said Dexter.

“We have some proposals that we are advancing. There seems to be an emerging consensus among the provinces and I intend to press the prime minister to move forward on this.”

The premier said the province is responsible for administration of justice, “however we can only use the tools that we have,” and he said jurisdiction over wireless communication and jurisdiction of the Criminal Code are federal matters.

Dexter said there is also a need for more specific legislation on the transmission of images of a sexual nature.

“At the time they were taken, there may have been consent to the making of the photograph, it is the transmission of that photograph which is not consensual and of course can do great harm to people,” he said.

Bully Jailed After Harassing Two Women

A BULLY who harassed two women and blackmailed one after putting intimate pictures on the internet has been jailed.

Mon Basra, 37, of Rochester Crescent in Hoo, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday, April 18 to four-and-a-half years in prison after admitting blackmail, breaching a non-molestation order and two harassment offences.

1. ​
   Mon Basra jailed after harassing two women

Basra, who owned a number of businesses in Gravesend, was heard by the court to have engaged in an affair with an employee at one of his businesses, seducing her with meals out and taking her to hotels and apartments that he claimed he owned.

After a month into the relationship, the victim noticed a change in Basra's behaviour and he became controlling. He would accuse her of cheating if she went on a night out with friends and began bullying and threatening her at work, even saying 'I'm going to burn your house down and your car'.

The volley of abusive texts continued throughout the relationship, with Basra constantly wanting to know who she was with and accusing the victim of cheating on him.

He then began demanding money, threatening to break her and her mother’s legs if she did not give him £5,000 within 24 hours. When she did not answer his calls or texts, he threatened to upload intimate pictures of her on a social media site. She realised he would follow through with his threats when he posted two intimate pictures of her on the site. She begged him to stop the bullying and threats but he laughed at her, telling her that police wouldn't do anything as it was a civil debt.

Basra was arrested but the victim made a retraction after he contacted her apologising.

The bullying and harassment didn't stop there. He continued abusing her and threatening to post intimate videos of the two of them and sent a wreath to the victim's parent's house with 'RIP' on it.

Basra was then arrested again in October last year.

Later that month, he began a relationship with another woman. Again he was controlling, demanding to see the messages on her phone and wanted pictures of where she was to prove she was there. When the victim tried to end the relationship in January he threatened to contact her employer to try and get her the sack and even threatened to burn her house down.

He was arrested by police on January 8.

Investigating officer, detective sergeant Rik Spicer, said: "This man was a dangerous individual who went on a lengthy mission to make the lives of his victims a real misery. I'm pleased that we have been able to give them a sense of justice and a reprieve from the continued bullying by Basra.

"I would like to praise the victims in this case for the bravery they have shown in coming forward and then having to relive what happened to them.

"This successful outcome for the victims is the culmination of a thorough investigation by Kent Police and we will continue to use all available tools to support victims in these cases and do our utmost to bring them to justice."

NYPD Tells Officers Not to Bully Redheads

NYPD supervisors have been warned not to discriminate against red-haired officers, and that any redhead harassment would not be tolerated, according to the New York Post.

No lawsuit has been filed against the city, but officials say a claim alleging unfair treatment over red hair would be supported by federal law, which bars workplace discrimination based on race, national origin, skin color, religion, sex or disability.

Red hair qualifies because people with the rare hair color are found in higher numbers in Scotland, Ireland and Britain than elsewhere, according to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“We’re apparently victims now,” said one cop with red hair. “We’re protected from discrimination.”

“It’s an innocuous-seeming criteria, but if it has a ‘disparate impact’ on a certain racial group, red hair could be considered the basis of discrimination,” said Justine Lisser of the EEOC.

Some feel the protection of redheads is over the top. “To put redheads in a protective class -- that’s ridiculous!” said a retired officer who was often called "Carrot Top," a common term for redheads. “Toughen up,” he added.

But one retired cop told The Post that he was bullied as a kid and called a "red-headed devil." “You get abuse every day when your hair is red,” he said. “You get beaten and chased. You better learn how to fight.”

Prejudice against redheads is widespread in some cultures. People with red hair are often said to have a "fiery" temperament. Red hair and green eyes were thought to signal a witch, werewolf or vampire during the Middle Ages.

More recently, people with red hair are commonly referred to as "gingers," which is sometimes considered insulting. One Canadian teenager started a "Kick a Ginger" Facebook group in 2008, which advocated for a "National Kick a Ginger Day."

Bieber uproar is a form of bullying

Kudos to columnist Sheryl Nadler for her assessment of Justin Bieber’s visit to the Anne Frank Museum. The insults toward Bieber are a form of bullying. The point behind his visit was that we should be upset because Frank wasn’t allowed to live long enough to experience the fun of being a fan of a pop star in her day.

Kudos also to the letter writer who connects political attack ads and bullying. I agree that politicians, as well as the adult world, contribute to our young people’s bullying problem. Both the uproar over Bieber’s presumably innocent message and the attack ads are bullying.

Judy Baillie, Ancaster

Rehtaeh Parsons remembered at anti-bullying concert

People gathered in Halifax Saturday night for an anti-cyberbullying concert to honour Rehtaeh Parsons, but her family said even in death their daughter is being attacked online.

According to Parsons's mother, four boys sexually assaulted her daughter when she was 15. Rehtaeh was then said to have been mocked by classmates, enduring relentless harassment and humiliation after a photo of the attack was circulated at her Cole Harbour, N.S. school and on social media.

On April 7, Rehtaeh was taken off life support after attempting suicide a few days earlier. She was 17.

The Pavilion is Halifax's only all-ages concert venue for teenagers like Rehtaeh.

“She had come to events here, her friends have come to events here,” said organizer Chris Smith.

He said as a father, Rehtaeh's story hit a nerve with him.

Where to call for help

Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868

N.S. mental heath mobile crisis team: 1-888-429-8167

“I think it's very disappointing and sad to see a young woman sort of in the prime of her life get cut down like this.”

Five bands have signed on to play, including Gloryhound.

“It's just such a shame that this bullying still happens, especially with today's social media, it can be used to an advantage but at the same time, it's such a bad thing because with bullying it just compounds it like tenfold,” said member Evan Meisner.

Rehtaeh was a known animal lover and all the proceeds from the show are going to the Nova Scotia SPCA.

Organizers said they hope the show will also start a dialogue with young people about cyberbullying, but hours before the concert started there was a glimpse online into the kind of harassment her family said led to her suicide.

On Saturday a Facebook page popped up disrespecting Parsons using disturbing images and derogatory comments.

Others shot back defending her memory.

Rehtaeh's father Glen Canning asked Facebook to remove it, but was told in an email Facebook was not able to confirm if the page violated their standards.

But a few hours after CBC News contacted Facebook, they replied saying the page has been removed.

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'I'm F---ing Sorting This Out': Dad Punches 16yo Girl In School Bully Dispute

An off-duty police officer punched a man and a 16-year-old girl in response to a bullying incident involving his son at a Bendigo primary school, a court has heard.

Keilor Downs Constable Jason Mooney went to the home of Adam John Rooney on August 21 last year to confront him over schoolyard bullying that occured between their two sons at a primary school in Kangaroo Flat, the Bendigo Advertiser reports.

The pair began to fight and Mooney punched Mr Rooney twice, before punching Mr Rooney's daughter in the head, the Bendigo Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday.

Mr Mooney, who lives in Bendigo, told the court he had gone to the house to try to resolve the issue of Mr Rooney's 12-year-old son bullying his 10-year-old son.

On the day he went to the home, Mr Mooney said Mr Rooney had been the aggressor and punched him in the chin and then attacked him with a plank of wood.

“I punched him twice in the face,” Mr Mooney said. “But he (Mr Rooney) lunged at me with his arms raised in the air and I had no doubt (he was going to hit me).”

Mr Mooney told the court he was acting in self defence when he punched Mr Rooney's daughter, who had run toward him. He said after the scuffle he attempted to flee but his car would not start.

The court heard Mr Rooney then grabbed a shovel and smashed in Mr Mooney's car windscreen, while Mr Mooney was in the driver's seat.

Mr Rooney was charged with criminal damage, unlawful assault, and assault with a weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

At a contested hearing, Mr Mooney gave evidence that he tried to reason with Mr Rooney about the bullying issue before Mr Rooney replied “I'll sort you out. Don't come to my place and think you can tell me what to do.”

According to Mr Rooney's defence counsel Matthew Cookson, Mr Mooney excluded details on the number of punches, and his version of events was “100 per cent fabrication”. “I put it to you (Mr Mooney) that you stood over him and repeatedly belted him,” he said.

Rooney's partner Michell Dean told the court that Mr Mooney had verbally abused her son outside the school earlier that day.

She said when she tried to intervene, Mr Mooney told her “I'm f---ing sorting this out”.

Mr Mooney's involvement in the incident has been subject to investigation by police's professional standards command, formerly known as the ethical standards department.

The hearing is set to continue on Thursday with five more witnesses to give evidence.

Playground Bully Age: 41

A mum has been banned for five years from the school gates – after more than 100 clashes with parents and children.

Foul-mouthed Anisha Mitchell, 41, cannot drop off or pick up any of her three youngsters from two schools unless there is “an emergency”.

The Asbo prevents her from St Mary’s Infant and Junior School in Cheltenham, Glos, and nearby Bishops Cleeve Comprehensive School between 6am and 6.15pm.

Magistrates also ordered Mitchell to stop distressing residents after four years of “anti-social behaviour”.

There have been 100-plus incidents with 31 witnesses reporting her to police and the council.

Mitchell was accused of repeatedly using bad language and verbal abuse in front of parents and children, plus littering, Cheltenham JPs heard.

Monday’s Asbo was obtained by Cheltenham Borough Council and supported by the police.

The order also prohibits Mitchell from “engaging in conduct likely to cause intimidation, alarm, harassment or distress and from using abusive, insulting, threatening or intimidating language”.

Mitchell and husband Benjamin, of Prestbury, Glos, were previously given an Asbo at the request of Crawley Borough Council in West Sussex where they formerly lived.

One neighbour said: “There have been nasty incidents.

"She is a bully and she seems to pick on the more vulnerable people. We want to have peace on the street again.”

But Mitchell claimed she was “the victim” and was being picked on for trimming a hedge between her house and that of her neighbour.

She said: “There are only five or six people who have problems with me. They’re trying to force me to move.”

Trevor Gladding, from Cheltenham Borough Council, said Mitchell’s behaviour was “unacceptable”.