KYSER LOUGH/Ledger & Times Calloway County Judge-Executive Larry Elkins and Murray Mayor Danny Hudspeth are joined by students and school officials from both the Murray Independent School District and the Calloway County School District as they sign a proclamation recognizing this week as Kentucky Safe Schools Week.

Kentucky Safe Schools Week aims to curb cyber bullying

By KYSER LOUGH
Staff Writer

The Kentucky Center for School Safety is recognizing this week as Kentucky Safe Schools Week and asking students to combat cyber bullying by following the “golden rule.”

Karen McCuiston, director of the (post secondary component of the) center, met Monday with 19 local elementary, middle and high school students, along with school officials, to talk about cyber bullying. Using the word “golden” as an acronym, she gave tips such as guarding against posting any private information and never sending “bad” pictures or messages even if others provide pressure to do so.

The students were joined by Calloway County Judge-Executive Larry Elkins and Murray Mayor Danny Hudspeth, who welcomed them and reiterated the importance of staying safe online. Hudspeth said his wife works in Career Services at Murray State University and that she advises her students to watch what they have posted publicly as job recruiters sometimes check on their online profiles.

In a press release sent from the Center for School Safety, it states that the theme for Kentucky Safe Schools Week will be “Follow the Golden Rule, Be Safe Online and at School,” coinciding with last year's passing of House Bill 91 or “The Golden Rule Act,” a prohibition against bullying, harassment and other forms of intimidation including cyber bullying via the Internet.

McCuiston asked the students to visit their web site and take an online pledge against cyber bullying and then spread the word about it to their peers. The site tracks the number of pledges taken and as of Monday afternoon the count had reached 61.

Another pledge against bullying in general was posted on the web site last year. To date, Calloway County has over 2,500 pledges, the majority of them students. Only eight counties in Kentucky have over 1,000 pledges.

According to the press release, an array of resources focused on school safety, with lesson plans and activities for students, parents, educators and the whole community are available online at www.kysafeschools.org.

Story created Oct 20, 2009 - 12:13:30 EDT.