Published August 24, 2010

(satosphere/Flickr)

I was bullied relentlessly as a kid. “Waldo,” they called me, for my striking resemblance to that lanky, bespectacled character who’s always lost.

Of course I complained to my teachers and cried to my parents. But I didn’t get any respect till I stood up for myself. I never laid a hand on another kid — not that I can remember — but I did get verbal. The experience helped me find my confidence.

Under the state’s new anti-bullying law, signed in May, Massachusetts has issued guidelines for educators to deal with bullying. The guidelines calls for

helping students understand the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying, including the underlying power imbalance.

The guidelines also advise:

The principal … will remind the alleged aggressor, target, and witnesses that retaliation is strictly prohibited and will result in disciplinary action.

A teacher who witnesses abuse must notify the principal. Then the principal must notify law enforcement and parents. In other words, the guidelines seem to shift the responsibility from children to the adults. After the startling suicides of an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old girl — thought to have suffered from relentless bullying — parents and politicians had to take action.

But will adult intervention keep kids from picking on kids? Should bullied kids be able to fight back, to help correct the “underlying power imbalance?” The state doesn’t seem to think so.

I would have been terrified of retaliation if someone called the police on my tormentors. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have lasted so long.

More:

• Read the state anti-bullying guidelines (Scribd)
• Previously: Phoebe Prince Was Troubled

Published August 24, 2010

Media vehicles from the Obama vacation entourage (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

President Obama is spending a rainy week on Martha’s Vineyard with his family (though he doesn’t travel light). And reporters are watching his every move — that is, every move they’re allowed to watch.

Every day, a designated pool reporter files updates with the press office, which then forwards the dispatches to all of us. Some are trivial, others amusing. The updates inspired me to create a POTUS Pool Miniblog on Tumblr

You can also follow this post (or the RSS feed) for the latest details on the vineyard vacation, unfiltered and unedited.

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Published August 24, 2010

James Sherley has finally gotten his way.

James Sherley (MIT)

Remember Sherley? He’s the former MIT associate professor who went on a hunger strike in 2007 because he was denied tenure — and claimed the decision was based on the fact that he’s black.

Well, Sherley is also an outspoken critic of embryonic stem cell research and opposes abortion, according to reports (he uses adult stem cells in his own research). And, as it turns out, he’s one of the remaining plaintiffs in the lawsuit that at least temporarily blocked President Obama’s executive order that allowed expanded embryonic stem cell research.

Wednesday’s ruling, which says that the president’s order violates a ban on using federal funds to destroy embryos, could render all embryonic stem cell research illegal, according to The New York Times.

Sherley, a biological engineer, now works at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute. I tried him by phone and e-mail but didn’t get a response.

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Rachel Zimmerman is a blogger for CommonHealth, which relaunches Thursday with a whole new look and expanded focus.