Congress Members Actually Agree on Something!
Around Independence Day I complained in this blog that today’s national leaders can’t seem to follow the example of our founding fathers and put away their differences for the sake of the greater good. Today I’m forced to take back what I said, because both parties agree on something that affects our children. They’re taking action to fight the increasing phenomenon of bullying.
How serious is the problem in our country? 1 in 4 teens are bullied today, and some 168 thousand won’t go to school for fear of being taunted, beaten, or otherwise bullied–that’s 168,000 every day!
Congress will likely approve an anti-bullying bill that extends the 1968 law. It provides $40 million per year over the next 5 years for schools to fight bullying through education and gang-prevention. In a world that deals in trillions of dollars, this is a small amount; yet it will do so much to protect the most vulnerable in our society–our children. If we can raise them in a world with fewer (or no!) gangs and surroundings where they’re respected as individuals with an infinite variety of colors, sizes, abilities, disabilities, family finances, and personalities, that’s a head start for them to create the peaceful, just world we all want.
Thank you, Congress-members.