In the past year, bullying has become not only a pervasive danger for students to dodge in the hallways but a hot topic of debate in the media, among parents and around dinner tables nationwide. Tragic stories of bullied kids committing suicide show up alongside activists’ best efforts to combat the problem, but still it persists.

Lee Hirsh’s documentary Bully, which follows a handful of kids and families from around the country who have dealt with severe bullying, caused a stir before it was even widely released when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) refused to grant it the PG-13 rating that would allow it to be shown in schools. Dozens of news stories and a petition half a million signatures strong later, the MPAA relented and will change the rating.

It’s clear that people care about bullying, but the question is, who can stop it?

One former local student and his attorney are asserting that schools are responsible for preventing their students from being subjected to bullying. Eric Giray, a former student of the prestigious Calhoun School on the Upper West Side, recently filed a lawsuit against his alma mater and his alleged former bully, classmate Daniel Dworakowski, centered on an incident that occurred eight years ago. He’s seeking damages of $1.5 million for what his attorney says was a blatant failure on the part of the school to protect Giray as a student there.

“The school was notified over time, several times, that bullying was taking place,” said Ric Cherwin, Giray’s attorney. “The former principal kept on saying, ‘We’ll take care of it, we’ll handle it, don’t take matters into your own hands.’ But the school, in fact, didn’t really do anything.”

According to Cherwin, what began as students taunting Giray with names like “elephant ears” and calling him “gay” escalated to one harrowing incident on which their case rests.

“My client was dramatically singled out by the defendant, who violently pushed him with malice into the bleachers, and he suffered a serious injury: broken nose, 18 stitches and pretty serious psychological trauma,” Cherwin said.

Dworakowski’s mother told the Daily News that the scuffle was just an accident, which is how the school may have characterized it at the time as well. Calhoun could not elaborate on what policies they have in place to prevent and address bullying, either then or now. Several other private schools also declined to comment on their bullying policies.

“We are not able to comment on the matters under litigation, but Calhoun has clear standards regarding bullying and a long record of being sensitive and responsive to the physical, emotional and psychological needs of all of our students,” wrote Calhoun’s head of school, Steve Nelson, in an email.

Giray is now in college and his attorney explained that he and his mother didn’t want to file a lawsuit against the school until he was through the college admissions process—the statute of limitations on this type of personal injury does not begin until the victim turns 18. His case has ignited interest in who’s to blame for bullying, even while schools struggle to keep their classrooms safe and civil places.

For public schools, the city’s Department of Education (DOE) enforces a discipline code that prohibits all forms of bullying and has trained some educators in how to teach respectful interaction to their students.

“We launched Respect for All training programs in 2007, and to date, more than 6,000 teachers, counselors, parent coordinators and other staff members have participated in various components of the Respect for All training program,” said DOE spokesperson Marge Feinberg in an email.

“Each school has a Respect For All liaison that helps ensure schools comply with the regulation and work with the DOE central staff on programs that embrace differences in others.”

According to the DOE, the number of bullying incidents has remained fairly steady over the past 10 years, but experts say many students won’t always report bullying to authority figures and sometimes teachers don’t know the best ways to handle the problem.

“Teachers and school administrations need to be prepared to notice both the child who bullies and the child who is being bullied,” said Nancy Silberkleit, a former educator who has launched her own anti-bullying campaigns. “I have seen, too many times, teachers pushing children away for ‘tattletelling’ instead of encouraging them to come forward and dealing with their concerns.”

Upper West Side Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell has been working for years to pass legislation that would help teachers become better equipped to handle bullying. Last year, after many years of pushing the bill, the Dignity for All Students Act passed the state Legislature and was signed into law. It will take effect July 1.

“It requires training of professionals; there needs to be somebody onsite who understands that bullying is not just kids being kids,” O’Donnell said. The law also requires localities to report bullying to the state Department of Education so effective strategies can be compared and tracked.

O’Donnell, who said he has faced plenty of bullying himself, finds it especially important to protect kids in an age when bullying is ever-present—kids don’t escape harassment when they leave the school building anymore and can be driven to despair by a particularly pointed Facebook post.

“I think the changes in the culture, the changes in the exposure to information and the ability to immediately communicate without thinking, which is what 13- and 14-year-olds do, creates this explosive environment,” O’Donnell said. Since the Dignity Act passed, he has also authored an amendment that addresses cyberbullying.

He also said that kids are exposed to sex, and are thus defining their own sexual and gender identities, at earlier ages, making young children who identify as gay or somehow different potential targets.

“This was the first time in New York State history that gender identity and expression were written into state laws,” O’Donnell said. “I know all too well that those children who violate gender stereotypes are the first targets.”

While the law will expand the requirements for how teachers and administrators address bullying, some say that it will be difficult to implement if parents and communities don’t also get involved.

“Teachers are overwhelmed with outside requirements to get students through tests and standards,” said Silberkleit. “There is very little time and energy left to deal with the social aspects of the students’ lives. Bullying occurs primarily before and after school.”

Kat Eden, communications director for Education.com, which works on anti-bullying issues, said that according to the results of a nationwide survey they conducted of 1,000 principals, many schools don’t have the resources they’d like to have to combat bullying.

“Principals surveyed reported a lack of resources to prevent and manage bullying—only 38 percent of principals report that they have sufficient resources to effectively implement bullying programs, curriculum and policies in their schools,” Eden said.

O’Donnell acknowledged that that is a particular challenge for many cash-strapped school districts, but insists that changing behavior is mostly a matter of awareness and education for current educators.

“We need to get rid of the idea within school environments that kids will be kids with regard to bullying,” O’Donnell said. “That’s just not OK.”

We doubt that anyone thinks of New York City as a summer camp mecca—but by most standards, it really is. Consider all the children’s activity centers and enrichment programs that the city is blessed with—some go on hiatus and some slow down in the summertime, offering the same programming but less of it, but many others take what they do best and build wonderful day camps around their core offerings.

Academic

Keep your kiddo’s mind fresh this August with the academic day camp offered by Drake Bennett Summer Schools. Divided into two sessions and housed at The Epiphany School, 1st-6th graders can brush up with lessons in literacy, math and science, while chess and drama pepper the afternoon hours. Or join Mathnasium for their Summer Re-Boot Camp. Specifically for 2nd-8th graders, this half-day camp is filled with math-centric games and activities.

Language

Set your kid on the fast track to becoming bilingual. Collina Italiana is offering Italian Summer in the City Camp, which includes Italian-infused music, theater, movies, cartoons and museum outings. Children as young as 3 can start learning “bonjour” and “merci” at the French Institute Alliance Française, where culture and language will be taught through stories and workshops.

The Language Workshop for Children is a great tool to get your child speaking like a native. Offering summer camps in Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese, immersion activities include costume days, arts and crafts, baking and birthday celebrations.

Media

Future video game creators will love the options in Summer Media Camp through the Museum of the Moving Image, where campers get to flex their software muscles learning animation, live action video and more. Or send your wannabe MTV VJ to New York Film Academy’s one-week Music Video Camp, designed for kids with little or no knowledge (but a passion) for the industry. And let’s not forget about summer camp at Take Two Film Academy, which will show your budding director the ins and outs of production, acting and editing. Each student gets to keep an online and DVD copy of their final product to show off to friends and family!

Nature

Wonder about wildlife? Kids ages 8-12 can get friendly with hyenas and lions at the Bronx Zoo’s Animal Kingdom Camp, where they will observe creatures up close and learn how to best protect an animal’s habitat. Taking full advantage of Prospect Park, the Park Explorers’ Camp Explorers program is ideal for the elementary school set. Be prepared to get a little dirty as this camp takes a hands-on approach to Mother Nature—think sprinklers, hill rolling and a host of field trips. And regardless of where you live, an awesome camp adventure awaits with NYC Parks Experience Summer Camp. With locations in every borough, this über-affordable camp provides structured hiking, swimming and sports.

Science

Inquisitive young minds will love the American Museum of Natural History’s Fossils and DNA Camp, where they can explore the evolutionary timeline. If your elementary school-aged child is more into constructing and electronic, the range of camp choices at Launch Math will give him or her the chance to build rockets and robots or design video games.

Budding scientists can use the city as their laboratory with the SciTech Kids Summer Camp. In Central Park, campers build solar ovens, learn about gravity thanks to the thrills of Victorian Gardens and make a few insect friends.

Visit newyorkfamily.com for even more day camp options.

A recent SUNY study shows that the more 3-year-olds watch TV, the more hyper and inclined to misbehave they become. How ironic that just below this news item is one calling for Peanuts look-alikes, honoring the 60th anniversary of the benevolent cartoon series. Creator Charles Schulz is sorely missed. Other recent research finds violence ever more present on TV, with more of it directed against women. Would it were only TV.

TV news may not cover all the commonplace dangers that the government does too little to stop: the tragic deaths of three pedestrians this past week, again by motor vehicles turning into their crosswalk, the most dangerous crime of traffic. Newspapers reported the death of Seth Kahn, 22, of Mamaroneck, a beloved son and also Fashion Institute of Technology student whom a shocked and saddened classmate called, “The most unselfish person I’ve ever met.” Seth was run over by an MTA bus making a turn into his Ninth Avenue crosswalk. If only the institute would start a movement to stop this illegal “failure to yield” danger
to pedestrians.

Debbie Silva, 31, of Brooklyn, was crossing Park Avenue when she was run down by a car making a right turn on to 34th Street.

A 51-year-old woman, whose family has not yet been notified, was killed by a tractor-trailer turning on to Randall’s Avenue, which she was crossing. As usual, even in these deadly turnings, no charges are filed.

Incidentally, only the newspapers noted the turning factor. So much depends on actively supporting Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Newspaper Revitalization Act of 2009 (H.R. 302), to allow newspapers to become non-profits similar to public radio. Maloney so rightly claims, “Newspapers are an essential component of our free democratic society. Studies show that [in] areas where daily newspapers have gone out of business, there’s been a rise in government corruption and a plummeting of civic involvement in politics.”

So much else we need to know will not be aired. Here’s to reading many more print newspapers, especially young people. Editors and columnists, be in the vanguard of such a movement—use your forums to warn just what will be lost if newspapers die. It’s not only self-interest, but in the best interest of the public, of a democratic society. And elder persons especially, do back this drive to save what we know from experience informs us the best—well, better than other media do. Also, newspapers bring us together where the Internet divides by special interests and surely by generation. Indeed, elder generation members often don’t have this connection at all. Maloney’s New York office number is 212-860-0606. And write a letter to the editor, too—please.

dewingbetter@aol.com