Relationships key in bully battle, experts say

More than 100 educators and administrators met in Markham to find out about Bill 13, Ontario’s proposed anti-bullying legislation, and what they can do to help make it work, wrote YorkRegion.com Jan. 30. What they heard was frustration from Canada’s foremost expert on the topic, Debra Pepler, Distinguished Research Professor in Psychology in York’s Faculty of Health. Pepler said she has “hit a brick wall”. “I’ve given way too many talks to gymnasiums of children…and leave, and nothing has changed. We have good legislation and mounds of research. How is it we still don’t have a solution?” Read full story.

How long will Harper wait before making you wait for your pension?
In a Globe and Mail column about possible changes to Old Age Security Jan. 31, John Ibbitson noted that Thomas Klassen, political science professor in York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is a leading Canadian authority on pension reform. Klassen’s first piece of advice on changing the OAS: “Don’t do it.” Read full story.

Research belies PM’s warning about OAS
Expert advice commissioned by the federal government contradicts Stephen Harper’s warnings that Canada can’t afford the looming bill for Old Age Security payments, wrote The Globe and Mail Jan. 30. Thomas Klassen, a York University political science professor who co-authored a 2010 report on Canada’s pension system, said his own research concluded that the OAS program is sustainable. Read full story.

Group sexting investigated at high school
The topic of youth and sexuality can easily create panic among parents and that can be made worse when technology is thrown into the mix, said Peter Cumming, humanities professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, in a Jan. 30 Simcoe.com story about sexting. Cumming wrote a position paper on youth, sexuality and technology in 2009.  Read full story.

Lorraine Brown always enthused by nature and music
Lorraine Brown
(MES ’84) had a tireless love and enthusiasm for the outdoors, wrote the Owen Sound Sun-Times Jan. 31, in an obituary. Brown, the founding president of the Owen Sound Field Naturalists and the editor of its newsletter, the Hart’s Tongue Herald, died at 62 on Jan. 27. Read full story.