Cyber Bulling Forum

April 8, 2008

Photograph by Glenda Partlow

From left: Alice S. Handelman, Press Club President, thanks Cyber Bullying forum M.C. Alvin Reid, and panelists

Catherine Hanaway, Karen Aerosty, Benjamin Lipman, Lt. Joe Laramie and Jennifer Bernstein.

Photo by Glenda Partlow

Press Club members and guests learn about the legalities, difficulties, perils, and precautions with cyber bullying as the evening's MC, Alvin Reid, calls on forum panel experts.

Photograph by Jean Cavender

From left: Pam Niehaus, Press Club Program Vice President discusses Cyber Bullying forum with the evening's MC, Alvin Reid.

The recent tragic death of a local 13-year-old victim of cyber bullying has had national and

international reverberations. Legislators, educators, parents and the legal community continue to

examine ways to prevent this abuse while considering first amendment rights.

The Press Club is proud to sponsor a free and open to the public forum on this critically

important issue in collaboration with Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JF&CS), the Holocaust

Museum and Learning Center, a department of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and the Anti-

Defamation League.

JF&CS research shows that one in 17 children is threatened or harassed through the

internet, and only one-quarter of young persons who encounter online sexual solicitation ever tell

their parents. The JF&CS, the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, the Jewish Federation and

the ADL are vigilant and proactive in exposing discrimination and defamation in all its forms. Each

organization has offered educational programs for persons of all ages in the metropolitan area, and

thousands of school-age children participate in JF&CS programs and Holocaust Museum tours each

year.

The Press Club Forum on cyber bullying will feature a distinguished panel of authorities on

internet safety, defamation and related law. The panel includes:

• Catherine Hanaway, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. Hanaway

was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1998 representing the 87th

District, and in 2003 was elected the first woman Speaker of the Missouri House. In

December 2005 she was sworn in as the presidentially-appointed US Attorney.

• Benjamin Lipman, Litigation Dept., Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. Lipman, who

practices in the area of media and communications law, serves as a board member and

treasurer of the Press Club and teaches media litigation as an adjunct professor of law at

the Washington University School of Law.

• Lt. Joseph Laramie, Glendale Police Department. A 28-year veteran of the Glendale

Police Department, Lt. Laramie is assigned as Juvenile Officer and DARE Officer, and

is currently detached as the Director of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task

Force of Missouri. He also serves on the Executive Committee for the National ICAC

Task Force program.

• Karen Aroesty, Regional Director of Missouri/Southern Illinois Office of the Anti-

Defamation League. Aroesty is a member of the St. Louis County Human Relations

Commission and a member of the Managing Group of the Racial Equity Collaboration.

She also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Conference for

Community and Justice.

• Jennifer Bernstein, Coordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Program of Jewish

Family and Children’s Services. Bernstein administers the Safe Surf program

designed to prevent victimization of children and teens who use the internet. Safe Surf

is presented to parents, educators and children from the fourth through eighth grades in

local schools, churches, synagogues and other organizations.

The Cyber Bullying Forum will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 at the Jewish Federation

Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, one block west of the intersection of Lindbergh

Blvd. and Schuetz Road, Creve Coeur. An optional tour of the Holocuast Museum exhibits will be

conducted at 6 p.m., and a light dessert reception will follow the program. Free parking is adjacent

to the building.

For further information contact Press Club: Pam Niehaus, 314-968-1042

JF&CS: Jean Cavender 314-442-3715