Bullying is wrong. Everyone involved in the lives of our youth — parents, guardians, teachers, coaches, school officials and others — should do what they can to eliminate it.
But the anti-bullying bill approved Thursday by the state Senate is a bureaucratic monstrosity that will likely make things worse, and waste precious resources that ought to be spent on academics.
It takes a problem that can and should be addressed with common sense, and lards it up with endless definitions, programs and policies. It seeks to codify every idle word or facial expression that might come from students. It tries to list every possible place where bullying will be forbidden, every method or piece of equipment that could be used to bully someone or simply create what someone might consider to be a "hostile environment."
At midweek, according to the State House News Service, there were 11 amendments pending on the bill, five of them filed by Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. Tarr's amendments covered, "modes of bullying", "geographical nexus of bullying", "alternative dispute resolution", "notice and comment" and "First Amendment rights." Fortunately, only "notice and comment" was adopted. But others adding language on "oversight", "individualized education programs", "effectiveness of new programs", a "commission on parental responsibility" and "at-risk student training" are all now part of the bill.
Can it be long before there will have to be a state Commissioner of Bullying Prevention, pulling down a six-figure salary and overseeing the requisite divisions of enforcement, curriculum, oversight and reporting? Can it be long before the DARE officer in school will be joined by a BARE (Bullying and Assault Resistance Education) officer?
Can it be long before the courts will be clogged with lawsuits, where one side will complain of bullying and the other will insist it was nothing more than teasing? Where teachers and administrators will have to spend endless hours testifying or being deposed?
Is this where we should be spending extra money and time that we don't have?
Most kids and adults know the difference between teasing and serious bullying. The response to bullying should be to intervene and take the offender to the principal's office. Or, if the bullying was violent, call the police. Any qualified teacher or administrator should be able to make that judgment.
There are already laws in place that prohibit assault, harassment and stalking. Those truly committed to stopping bullying should make use of them.
The anti-bullying bill satisfies demands to "do something." But actually, it will do little to help kids.
Not every problem has a legislative solution. Bullying is one of them. The House, which now takes up the bill, should end the grandstanding and accept that reality.
