Brett Pritchard Family Blog

Previously, I posted on school security measures as response to the national school safety debate. However, I believe that schools must be protected from threats both inside and outside their walls. Within the mental health segment of the issue lies one key cause of suffering in schools: bullying. In 2016, National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) found that 33 percent of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they were bullied at least once or twice a month during the school year. This figure shows that bullying is a chronic issue. In 1999, two ex-bully victims killed thirteen people in the Columbine Massacre. Georgia was the first state to enact anti-bullying laws only months later. For the next 10 years, we saw the culture shift. Movies and documentaries premiered detailing kids’ experiences with bullying, the media reported on extreme cases, and schools and governments began to make change. The federal government began collecting data on school bull

(AP Photo/Kamenko Pajic)   Honoring Family with Family this July 4th Happy 4th of July from my family to yours! My Independence Day plans are traditional: tossing burgers and hotdogs on the grill, surrounded by laughing family and friends.  We will watch the fireworks together at night and get to bed after a great day. But for my plans to be truly patriotic, I need to do more than hang an American-flag-printed banner over the picnic table. I need to reflect, remember and honor those who have and are currently serving in our country’s armed forces. Our troops fiercely fight for our freedoms each day. Many of us can only imagine what it is like to be deployed, to go months or even years without seeing those we love most in this world.  For many, it is hard to grasp how these people feel. To better understand their experiences, I looked online for the stories of those serving this country. I came across “Stories of Service,” an enlightening series of short videos by PBS.   On