If bullying is criminalized will bullying end?
Bullying bill fails to address root cause
Representative John Allen (Republican - Phoenix District 10) was the sole holdout against new legislation that criminalized bullying and assigned harsh penalties to offenders. Why? Doesn’t he care about bullying? Wasn’t he moved by the testimony of two mothers that lost their children due to incessant bullying? Yes, he does, and that is why he voted against the bill.
To make it [bullying] stop we have to understand what has changed. What is different today that makes it necessary to add a law against it? There have always been bullies who have preyed on the weak; that hasn’t changed.
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What have changed are the schools.
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It used to be that schools were an extension of our parental authority and safety. Far too often we now see the schools pushing children to challenge what they learn at home, and we see faculty bend over backward to avoid judging any action or behavior as unacceptable.Almost all the things that happened to these two poor children were against school policy and much of it was clearly criminal, but the schools did little to stop it. Not because there is not enough law to stop it, but because the culture of our schools says the tolerance of the individual outweighs the right of the group to have structure, order and discipline.
You may ask, “So doesn’t this bill help change our schools?” I say no. It deals with bullying after the fact.
Mr.Allen compares this Bully Bill with hate crimes legislation. It does not help the victim that their bully is committing a crime. It only helps the victim when the bully is prevented from attacking them. That will only happen with a change in school culture, a realization that schools are institutions with rules and consequences that must be obeyed in order for the system to function, parental support of teachers and teacher support of parents.
And always remember, children do not own the schools; teachers don’t own the schools; principals and superintendents don’t own the schools; it is you and I, the taxpayers and parents, who do.
If they are unwilling to protect children even from one another, then adding a new law will not help.
We cannot fix this overnight, but this proposed law never will.
Discilpline is out of favor.
Each person weighing in on this issue should have to teach at a Hi School in “The Hood”.
Even Hollywood could see that the blackboard Jungle / To Sir With Love etc.
Respect is out of Kilter. A “Right” the young and elites say.
I did teach at a High School “in the ‘hood” CT city back in the early 70s. Was confronted by a punk with a knife. I broke his arm. I am 3rd degree Black Belt, Tae Kwon Do. He did not know that. To him, I was a “white “”")O(I*****” that was a bother. I did not get fired, but I was reprimanded. I quit. No job is worth my life and I expect my peers to cover my back.
Today, I have 6 children. Live in rural CT. Don’t teach for a living. Do teach my children. Bullies respond to only one thing: response in kind. We had a bullying problem in our school. The “interim” principal fit the description in the first post to a tee. When my daughter came home and showed me where she had been stabbed with a pencil, I showed her how to deck her assailant. She was told to keep knocking him down until a. he got the message, or b. she was removed to the principal’s office.
I then visited the principal and explained that if this scenario occurred, NO ONE in the school was to talk with my daughter without my presence. When I arrived, I would be accompanied by a State Trooper. I would press charges against the child, then petition the school board to move my daughter to another school district. Under CT Law, this is permissible under the above circumstances. The cost would be a minimum of $20,000 just for transport, plus the cost of education in the other town.
Two things happened:
1. The attacks stopped.
2. The principal resigned.
Do you know what the end result of the Marlon Morgan arrest was? Did his mother retain an attorney? Did the police and school conduct/complete their investigation?
I am interested in learning more about this case. Thanks for your help.
Ron - If/when I get an update on Marlon I’ll post it here:
Unfortunately I might never get one. Because he is a youthful offender I’ll be unable to get the results of his court case unless he or his family make them public. With the length of time that has passed since his arrest I’ve got to assume that he has had his day in court already. Given the lack of protest from that corner it’s safe to believe that the charges were either dropped or he received a reprimand only.