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'The Bully Effect': Making it stop
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Bullying runs rampant in Leander ISD (Tx)
Hi! My name is Lisa Loe and I live in Cedar Park, Tx, (near Austin), in the Leander ISD. I'm also an admin on the facebook pages, Stop Bullying at Leander ISD, and The Zero Tolerance Project. Just a little background - LISD currently has four federal bullying lawsuits against them including ours. My 12-yr-old special needs son, “Robert Mercer”, was systematically bullied and harassed from kinder-4th grade while attending CC Mason Elementary School. Transferring classes didn't help, nor did the staff’s refusal to acknowledge my son’s autism. I have documentation dating back to 2006 begging for help from the principal, various teachers, and admin staff, all to no avail. We learned on 12-10-2010 that the abuse had taken a horrific turn into repeated bathroom sexual assaults by four classmates, three of whom I'd complained about for years. I took my son to Dell Children's Medical Center where he underwent a SANE exam (sexual assault nurse exam), followed by a forensic interview with the Cedar Park Police Dept. My son never went back to that school and in fact stayed home for the next nine months due to severe PTSD (shredding his underwear with his bare hands, compulsive skin picking, insomnia, nightmares, weight loss...endless list). Robert began attending a private school in Sept 2011 and he struggled with trusting peers/teachers. I'm happy to report that today, he's doing so much better! With that said, however, I worry greatly about the special needs children still attending CC Mason, and children in Leander ISD in general. The detective assigned to our case never even bothered to leave his office to meet me, my son or my husband. I only met him because I planted myself in the CPPD waiting area for several days until he "magically" appeared from a back office. Even though evidence of "bullying, intimidation, and inappropriate behavior" was found, the CPPD refused to file charges against the perpetrators. The LISD and CPPD's investigations were shoddy at best, non-existent at worse.
I'm now a passionate anti-bullying advocate which is where CNN/AC360 comes in. Matthew Michael Sullivan, who's organized events for several causes, and myself are organizing a first of its kind huge anti-bullying awareness event for 6/1/13 at the Capital in Austin. We'd like to screen Bully, followed by an anti-bullying presentation by renowned anti-bullying expert, Dr. Stuart Twemlow. Additionally, we'd like to have booths set up from the many organizations affected by bullying (Special Ed, SafePlace, Anti-Defamation League, GLAAD, PFLAG, gender bias, disability bias, etc.). I’m pleasantly surprised at the amount of positive feedback we’ve already received considering our first planning meeting was just three weeks ago! TX Representative Dawnna Dukes (D) is lending her support and will be a guest speaker. Representatives Charles Shwertner (R) and Tony Dale (R) have also expressed interest. This isn't a political event per se, but name recognition could be huge. If nothing else, we’ll at least have a captive audience with the various lawmakers! Lee Hirsch is also lending his support and has offered whatever assistance he can provide. Tina and David Long, also want to come down and speak. Within the next week, we're working on firming up partnerships with organizations that can use fundraising including Pick With Austin, a non-profit aimed at preventing teen suicide. Along with local media, The Dr. Phil Show has also expressed interest. I'd love for The Bully Project to be represented as well as Stop Bullying, Speak Up. Admittedly, I'm not an event planner; I'm just a mom from Cedar Park wanting to make a difference for Texas children. Please let me know if you can provide additional contacts that may be interested. Any and all assistance Matthew and I can muster (sponsors, donated time, travel, speakers, fundraising, etc.) would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!
Regards,
Lisa Loe
I'm now a passionate anti-bullying advocate which is where CNN/AC360 comes in. Matthew Michael Sullivan, who's organized events for several causes, and myself are organizing a first of its kind huge anti-bullying awareness event for 6/1/13 at the Capital in Austin. We'd like to screen Bully, followed by an anti-bullying presentation by renowned anti-bullying expert, Dr. Stuart Twemlow. Additionally, we'd like to have booths set up from the many organizations affected by bullying (Special Ed, SafePlace, Anti-Defamation League, GLAAD, PFLAG, gender bias, disability bias, etc.). I’m pleasantly surprised at the amount of positive feedback we’ve already received considering our first planning meeting was just three weeks ago! TX Representative Dawnna Dukes (D) is lending her support and will be a guest speaker. Representatives Charles Shwertner (R) and Tony Dale (R) have also expressed interest. This isn't a political event per se, but name recognition could be huge. If nothing else, we’ll at least have a captive audience with the various lawmakers! Lee Hirsch is also lending his support and has offered whatever assistance he can provide. Tina and David Long, also want to come down and speak. Within the next week, we're working on firming up partnerships with organizations that can use fundraising including Pick With Austin, a non-profit aimed at preventing teen suicide. Along with local media, The Dr. Phil Show has also expressed interest. I'd love for The Bully Project to be represented as well as Stop Bullying, Speak Up. Admittedly, I'm not an event planner; I'm just a mom from Cedar Park wanting to make a difference for Texas children. Please let me know if you can provide additional contacts that may be interested. Any and all assistance Matthew and I can muster (sponsors, donated time, travel, speakers, fundraising, etc.) would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!
Regards,
Lisa Loe
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