Thoughts on the new Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights

As some may be aware, the new anti-bullying bill of rights and all the baggage that it brings to the doors of the school was ruled to be an unfunded mandate by a state board that is asked to analyze laws set down by the state to see if they are unfunded and if they are found to be unfunded, the panel decides what the state should do about the law. In this case, the state found the new HIB law to be unfunded and therefore it will need revisions.

This law has merits. I fully applaud the idea of protecting students and designing rules that allow us to further protect our students from bullying However, what the law has done is provide that every look or word can be turned into a case of bullying. The law teaches our children and parents that any thing that might cause them discomfort, such as hard work or honest disagreements or conflicts over space, lockers, pencils, new friendships, etc... is a horrible bullying incident that must be stopped. The law overburdens teachers and administrators, costs hundreds of man hours and abrogates the responsibility of learning how to deal with others each day to the schools. A function that most educators, doctors and parents feel has been and always should be, the responsibility of the parents.

I have also seen an ugly thread within the fabric of this law... parents bullying staff and administrators. Parents yell and scream at us, curse us out, dictate to us who their children can sit next to, play with or eat with. Every difficulty that a child experiences is not bullying! Bullying is much more! Young children tend to be bullies if they have been bullied. However, just try telling a parent that their child has been a bully and it leads to accusations of ineffectiveness and even threats about our jobs!

Bullying is an issue. It is a problem that many students say they see, but none say they are or have been bullies. We have investigated more than 20 claims of bullying this year and of that number only two fall into the category of bullying. Most are code of conduct violations that are outlined in our student handbook. However, the times when staff are being bullied are far too numerous, are unacceptable and just plain uncivil!

The HIB legislation has merits. It does protect children. But in some cases it protects them from handling difficulties, conflicts or frustrations and may be turning them into a "chicken little generation."

Till next time....