Thursday, April 29, 2010

Anti-bullying legislation

I am watching NECN, and I do believe they just reported that Mass. has passed the anti-bullying legislation. I was distracted by Scott Montminy coming on after the report (he makes me laugh out loud) ...

At any rate, see this story from today's Globe, if you want more info.

I'm not necessarily pleased with this. I think most of us were probably bullied at some point in our lives (and some of us are bullied still). I know it can be more brutal now because of so-called social media sites, cell phones, etc. - but wow, a law?

I remember once, when I was in high school, a group of "popular" girls walking up to a "loser" girl who was sitting at a table eating her lunch and just by glaring at her, they made her pick up her half-eaten lunch and scurry away. I saw the girl (well, the woman now) has a profile on Facebook ...

And me ... you know me ... I once I had a group of girls show up at my house prepared to beat me up! Or so they claimed. Not sure why they would imagine my parents would let such a thing happen, but oops, my parents weren't home. I emerged unscathed.

I'm not sure they would have been stopped by any law, but I could be wrong. I have not seen the details yet, but it could be yet another unfunded mandate (financial burden) for the schools.

What do you guys think?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gillian:

It seems there is a new age to bullying and we'll have to ride the wave to see how this plays out and how the laws will be applied. Having children and seeing how bullying plays out throught the years has been interesting. There are no clear remedies and I think it will always take place in some form or another. Cyberbullying takes on a new life of its own. Once something is placed on the internet, it is there for good and I think punishment handed down from the courts is warranted. What I would personally like to see on the school level is some sort of punishment aside from the routine detention or 3-day suspension. Possibly having the bully wear a bright yellow/pink shirt or smock advertising their crime for a week or more. A little humiliation goes a long way and can be very humbling to the perpetrator. I'd like to see some other thoughts on the matter.

On another matter, yesterday and today my computer is telling me there is a virus threat on the Newburyport Biz site and I can't access it. Any thoughts.

Gail

Gillian Swart said...

Hi Gail, Thanks. I don't get the message about the virus threat, but I'll have my web person look into it.

About bullying - I always thought the bully had/has some serious self esteem issues, so I'm not sure that humiliation is going to help with that. But I am not even close to being an expert on the subject.

Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Take a look at the bullying articles in the Salem News today on what happended to the Sped student. Awful. I don't have the answers, just thoughts. Self esteem issues in this case? I am not so sure. The kids need a more serious deterent(sp?) than just a slap on the wrist. Therapy is certainly in order, but these kids have to be outed, especially those finding humor in what they are doing. Circumstances do vary ie. self estemm and troubled home life. In some cases there is a wake up call and others there is a red flag toward deeper problems. What happens currently with detention and suspensions, these kids could care less. The parents have to be pulled in to be a part of the solution. Maybe requiring family counseling before returning to school would be in order.

The best I can do as a parent is talk to my children, know my children and stay involved with my children. The more information they have, the better equipped they are to handle anything that comes their way. I strongly believe your children are a reflection of who you are as a person and parent.

There are certainly some interesting comments that go along with the article. Take a look.

On the virus threat, it reads HTML/Framer. I'm not too computer savy. Maybe my kids can figure it out. Well, not maybe, they'll figure it out I'm sure.

Take Care, Gail

Bella said...

My niece has Aspergers and she was bullied in school from first grade through high school! The bullying got worst in high school. 5 kids where calling my niece at home and leaving insulting messages. The calls were every 5 min.! It got so bad my sister and brother in law had to call the cops. The cops had to tapped the phone so they get the names of the kids. My niece life was a living HELL! Plus her rights were violated as handicap child! I wish this law was around when my niece needed it! On her last day of school she said she was free at last! She did not have to go to school with the kids that nearly destroyed her life! No child should so emotionly abused that they are driven to take their own life!Parents need to stop thinking it's ok for their child to bully other kids and reaize that they could held accountable for their child behavior if it cause another child to take their own life! If had happen to my child ,and I found out the bully parents knew what their child was doing , I would sues the parents for every dime they had! It's against the law for an adult to abuse a child ,so why should it be ok for a teenager to get away with it!