Anti Bullying - Weebly



Anti-Bullying Social PolicyJustina ReedWayne State UniversityAnti-Bullying Social Policy“During the 2010-2011 school year, there were more than 34,000 reported cases of bullying in Michigan schools-more than 8,000 of them in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties” (Higgins, L. 2012). In the United States bullying is being found at an alarming rate. In Michigan alone just during the school year of 2010 to 2011, there was a significant amount of bullying going on in the Michigan school of which you can see above. This social problem of bullying has even gone to such lengths of children committing suicide due to being bullied. The State of Michigan was the 48th state to pass an anti-bullying law (Brush, M. 2012). On December 6, 2011, the “Matt’s Safe School Law” (MCL 380.130b) was put into effect in Michigan by Governor Snyder. Within 6 months after this date, all school districts were to have a policy implemented within their schools that prohibited bullying (Wolenberg, C.2012). Bullying is a very serious social problem that all states are facing and the policies/laws that have been developed to prohibit it are not without their flaws; however these policies and laws are putting this social problem at the forefront for everyone to open their eyes too and be aware of.In understanding the social problem of bullying one must have knowledge of bullying is and what it consists of. According to the Model Anti-Bullying Policy from the Michigan’s State Board of Education, “bullying or “harassment” is any gesture or written, verbal, graphic, or physical act including electronically transmitted acts- i.e., cyber bullying, through the use of internet, cell phone, personal digital assistant, computer, or wireless handheld device, currently in use or later developed and used by students, that is reasonably perceived as being dehumanizing, intimidating, hostile, humiliating, threaten, or otherwise likely to evoke fear of physical harm or emotional distress and may be motivated either by bias or prejudice based upon any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression; or a mental, physical or sensory disability or impairment; or by any other distinguishing characteristic, or is based upon association with another person who has or is perceived to have any distinguishing characteristic.” Bullying also consists of retaliation of an individual who may cooperate or report an investigation in this policy (Model Anti-Bullying Policy, 2010). Here are some alarming statistics of bullying in the United States: 160,000 kids miss school every day for fear of being bullied, 85% of the time there is no intervention in school bullying, and those with disabilities or who are different suffer bullying 65% more than others. What is even more shocking is the statistic that “1 teen dies every 30 minutes in the U.S.A. from bullycide” (Abuse & Bullying Kills, 2012).Michigan’s response to the social problem of bullying was starting with the law “Matt’s Safe School Law”. This new law was adopted into place as stated above in December of 2012. “Matt’s Safe School Law” was named after an 8th grader, Matt Epling from East Lansing. Matt was described as a talented and giving child. At the end of 8th grade in 2002, he was assaulted by an upperclassman as part of a hazen ritual of “welcoming” into the high school. Little was done about the crime and about forty-days later, right before his parents were going to file formal charges with the police, Matt committed suicide. He had been receiving threats and feared of retaliation. His family came together with other families America who have had to suffer the lost of a child due to being bullied to bring awareness to bullying (Matt , 2006). Each school district has now had to take this law and implement policies that have had to be approved that encompass the requirements of this law. The law is dictated by the federal government; however the policies are only dictated on the local level, but have had to be approved by the State Board of Education to ensure they are following the law. The law encompasses bullying of all populations. The model that has been provided to the schools with guidelines to follow is the Model Anti-Bullying Policy. This policy lays out what bullying is, the set-up what needs to be adhered to in reference to bullying and the prohibition of it within the school districts such environmental change and individual behavioral change, the policies and regulations of bullying behavior, and the consequences if bullying happens. The consequences can be but are not limited to: admonishment, temporary removal from classroom, loss of privileges, classroom or administrative detention, in-school suspension, out-of school suspension, legal action, and expulsion or termination (Model Anti-Bullying, 2010). When the law against bullying was put into place, it had included a provision added in by the State Senate Republicans that stated students could not be punished for statements of religious belief or moral convictions. Supporters of the bill including Matt’s family stated that this was a “licensed to bully” (Deiter, B., 2012). Senator Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan was one to initially oppose the initial anti-bullying bill by standing up at the Senate meeting to pass the bill by saying that the bill “explicitly outlines how to get away with bullying, the exceptions have swallowed the rule”. She also goes on to say that “bullying is not okay. We should passing public policy that protects kids, all kids, from bullies, all bullies, but instead it has set us back even farther creating a blue print for bullying” (Whitmer,G., 2012). Once the bill and this provision became a debate with national media attention, the State Senate revised this provision by eliminating it from the bill. My thoughts on bullying are that is now worse than it has been in past history. So many suicides are happening from children being bullied. It is no longer just about spreading rumors among the school and picking on one another, it is now a full fledge attack on someone through social media. Some bullies have now even gone to the extent of creating special media pages towards the victim and some bullies even posting videos of the bullying to their victim. I think if this law had not been changed and the opposition from all those involved, senate members, and the national media, this law would have allowed exception to the rule. However now that the law has been revised to allow no bullying of any kind, it is only creating awareness about bullying and making the school systems and states partially responsible to creating the awareness and prohibiting bullying. I think the quote on Matt Epling’s website says it best “to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world!” ................
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