The sessions, for first-year law students enrolled in a Lawyering Skills & Values class, were aimed at immersing the students in hypothetical but believable ethical challenges reflecting what they may encounter during their careers.

Miller’s assigned story was about a first-year lawyer assigned to cover a motion the next morning in another county. During his research he finds case law indicating he will not win the hearing, but he hesitates to call his firm’s managing partner at home because the partner is out at his 25th anniversary dinner with his wife.

“The issues concerned what his duty was to the court and to his client,” Miller said. “In law school, things tend to seem very simple, but as we explored the issues, the students began to see that once they get into the real world they have to be prepared for some tough situations so they can make the right decisions. We shared real-life stories and answered questions about how to handle these situations in the most ethical and professional manner.”

“In the end,” Miller said, “there is only one way an attorney can and should proceed – ethically and professionally. That’s how we do it at Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm, and that’s what I wanted to get across.” Miller and the other HPS partners have all earned Martindale-Hubbell’s highest “AV” rating for their legal ethics and professionalism.

The “Scared of school” article in The Palm Beach Post was a revealing, insightful look at the very disturbing trend in teenage violence. Unfortunately, the article didn’t go quite far enough in exploring and exposing the “whys” and the “What can we do?” aspects of this trend.

Rather than focus on school security or law enforcement as a culprit, it may be time for parents to recognize the key role of the home and community as a way to prevent and, unfortunately, exacerbate these issues. One key issue appears to be social media, and parents and caretakers are, or should be, gatekeepers to social media.

Common sense tells us it’s a lot easier to type ugly things into a cellphone or computer in private than it is to say it aloud to somebody, face to face. From there, it often escalates. Most of the recent acts of violence among teenagers had their origins in text messages, phone calls and e-mails that spiraled out of control.

For about $40, parents can purchase Web filters, providing control over every Internet-enabled device in the household, including laptops, desktops, PDAs, and even game consoles, without having to install and manage separate software on each individual device.

Following are some tips for parents that will be published in our law firm’s newsletter. This is at least a partial answer to the “What can we do?” question. With more vigilance, maybe children and young adults like Christian, a 13-year-old who was quoted about the bullying he had to endure, can go to school without fear and intimidation.

• Educate yourself and your children about social media.
• Use parental controls to prevent your children from accessing undesirable websites.
• Do not allow your children to set up social media accounts, such as Facebook, unless you manage the accounts. Request their passwords so you can view the sites.
• Make sure their accounts are set to provide as little personal information as possible.
• Join your children’s “friend lists” on Facebook and take note of their friends and the comments and photographs posted.
• Be present when your children are online to help them navigate any potential negative influences. Having computers in their rooms makes keeping an eye on them extremely difficult.
• Do not give children phones with Internet-browsing capabilities.
• Create family time, such as dinner time, when phone use is not allowed.
• Do not allow children to take their phones to school. If you do allow it, make sure their phones aren’t equipped with text-messaging or Web-browsing capabilities.
• Require that homework and other duties be completed before phone use is allowed.
• Remind children that cellphones and other technologies are privileges, not rights. In this regard, cellphones and technology can be great tools for discipline.

“I’m wondering if he didn’t have something going on at home,” Christian was quoted as saying about one bully. “A lot of people should be more aware how often youth violence and bullying occurs.” Wise words. Will our great community listen?

EUGENE K. PETTIS

Fort Lauderdale

Editor’s note: Eugene K. Pettis is managing partner of Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm. He has represented school districts and school boards in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Happier employees get more done and offer better customer service and client interaction. You could also expect lower healthcare costs and reduced employee turnover. Companies that provide a psychologically healthy workplace also have a better chance of surviving lean times. The lesson: Taking care of employees takes care of the bottom line.

With recently reported problems regarding violence in our schools and elsewhere, it’s time to start thinking about underlying causes. Having represented the Broward County School Board for the past 18 years in a broad spectrum of legal issues, I’ve seen first-hand the tragedies that can result when violence and anger infect our youths and our community.

Anecdotally, we here at Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm have been drawing connections between the increased use of social media by our children and issues in our schools and community. Rather than focusing on school security or law enforcement as a culprit, it may be time for parents to recognize the key role of the home and community as a way to both prevent and – unfortunately – exacerbate these issues.

Clearly, one of the key issues appears to be social media. There is no doubt that texting, Facebook, MySpace, blogging and Twitter are more popular now among teenagers. Consider these findings in a Pew Research Center report:

• 58% of 12‐year olds now own a cell phone, up from just 18% of such teens as recently as 2004.
• 88% of teenagers with cell phones are texters. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.
• 93% of teens ages 12‐17 go online

Common sense tells us it’s a lot easier to type ugly things into a cell phone or computer in private than it is to say it aloud to somebody, face to face. From there, unfortunately, it often escalates.
Parents should develop their own set of social media policies at home.  Some helpful tips to consider:
Social media:

• Educate yourself and your children about social media.
• Establish rules, such as not befriending strangers.
• Use parental controls to prevent your children from accessing undesirable websites.
• Do not allow your children to set up social media accounts, such as Facebook, unless you manage the accounts. Request their passwords so you can view the sites at any time.
• Make sure their accounts are set to provide as little personal information as possible.
• Join your children’s “friend lists” on Facebook and take note of their friends and the comments and photographs posted.
• Be present when your children are online to help them navigate any potential negative influences. Having computers in their rooms makes keeping an eye on them extremely difficult.

Cell phones:

• Parents can control all phone services that providers offer, including text messaging, phone calls, instant messages and access to Web sites.
• Do not give children phones with Internet browsing capabilities.
• Create family time, such as dinner time, when phone use is not allowed.
• Do not allow children to bring their phones to school. If you do allow them to bring them to school, make sure their phones aren’t equipped with text messaging or Web browsing capabilities.
• Require that homework and other duties be completed before phone use is allowed.
• Remind children that cell phones and other technologies are privileges, not rights. In this regard, cell phones and technology can be great tools for discipline.

Tools for parents:

For about $40, parents can purchase Web filters providing control over every Internet-enabled device in the household, including laptops, desktops, PDAs, and even game consoles, without having to install and manage separate software on each individual device.