Fellow classmate Chris had a blog article written a couple weeks ago entitled Department of Education Stands Up to Bullies. The article discussed the Department of Educations new tactics to help prevent bullying in schools. One of these tactics is threatening schools with the loss of federal funding if a school does not enforce civil rights laws which prohibit harassment of students based on race, national origin, religion, and gender. Congress is also in debate right now on whether to also include sexual preference into those rights which are protected. Another tactic is the threat of a federal investigation for schools and/or school administration which fails to comply and enforce these civil right protections. I liked reading Chris' article because this has been a hot topic across America due to the series of high profile student suicides as a result of bullying. However, I had not heard about any legislation that was going on to stop it. I didn't however, find it surprising that many of these students were targeted because of their sexual preferences, which makes me happy to see there are people fighting to protect the rights of these students as well. I also agree with Chris that schools may also need to implement stronger bullying policies, rather than the typical trip to the principal's office or detention. Maybe if schools made it a lot worse for students who targeted fellow peers who were different, bullies would think twice before acting out. Perhaps one punishment could be having to write an essay about the dangers of bullying and to read it at a school assembly. By holding theses bullies accountable, they are not only embarrassed of their actions, but also forced to face the potential dangers in which they are causing.
Like Chris mentioned, in many of these cases, it was found that teachers were aware of the issue and failed to step in to deter it. This is where I am glad to see the Department of Education step in and hold the schools accountable for their failure to prevent it from happening. Chris stated that these actions were the DoE stepping up to the plate...I however, think it is merely a step in the right direction. As sad as it is to say, there will more than likely have to be many more tragedies that occur, before stronger legislation is put into place. Bullying has been around forever, it is unfortunate that the severeness of its consequences are just now becoming a national issue.
