California anti-bullying laws are NOT working! Each year more than 200,000 kids are harassed because they’re gay or perceived as gay, leading to suicide, physical or verbal abuse, and even murder. And that’s just one target group. Others are bullied because of their size (big or little), ethnic background, what they wear, their economic status, how they talk (accent or speech impediment)…any number of excuses.
Our bullying and harassment laws are not protecting our children. One of the reasons is that they are not enforced in our schools. Principals and teachers often turn a blind eye to bullying, partly because of possible legal action against themselves if a parent wants to fight the charge. The result: the danger to our children is growing.
The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee is looking into the situation. They’re looking at all California schools to see which ones are failing to meet their legal responsibility and to evaluate the effectiveness of the laws.
Some argue that there shouldn’t even be such laws, that parents have the right to monitor their children and teach them not to bully. I agree. Except that not all parents will do so, leaving the most vulnerable kids unprotected. Usually it’s the parent of the bully who doesn’t admit that his child does violence on others, and the bully is good at hiding his proclivities from his parents. Often, too, the bully sees abuse between his parents and thinks it’s a natural thing to do. Therefore, the ones who need to be taught respect and consideration for all those around him don’t learn that lesson. Later, they pass on this negative learning to their own kids.
I agree that we sometimes go too far with “Nanny Laws.” However, in this case, because the adults are not taking charge, I’d rather have a law than see more children physically and emotionally damaged–or dead.