Flaw in Anti-Bullying Law

[Zack Alklazaris]

I don't have a chance to watch the video, but 'religious or moral' reasons is the largest loop hole you possibly could create. Not to mention it will allow pretty much anyone to bully the gays/bis/lesbians all they want. They need protection more than anyone.

 

[2xDouble]

"religious or moral reason??" what kind of twisted fucked up bullshit is that? What kind of religious or moral reason could there possibly be for bullying someone??

Bullying the bullies. On the internet it's called "counter-trolling". Law enforcement call it "good samaritan".

Yeah? Well I call it lowing yourself to their level and it's is just as inexcusable.

You'd rather do nothing when someone is being abused and/or assaulted? You're just going to stand there and watch?

Defending someone may be the same as bullying, but complacency is worse.

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

I'm not exactly the biggest supporter of anti-bully laws because kids will be kids, not to mention I believe it encourages punishment over resolution.

Yeah, I guess me being excluded and beaten up every day because I dared to befriend an autistic boy is nothing to worry about, I mean, kids will be kids! And after all, wouldn't want it to not get resolved (because intervening and explaining to violent little bigots that such actions aren't justified totally isn't resolving anything!)!

I understand that. I just happen to be of the belief that a stern talkin' to and staying an hour after school or something isn't a very effective way of "fixing" the bully problem. I believe in identifying the root of the problem, getting inside the bully's head and figuring out why it is that he does what he does, why he feels the need to demand attention, respect or whatever it may be, and understanding that the bully's actions are a product of their upbringing.

I'm confused that you took such offense towards my post. I am on your side on this, just from a different angle. When bullying takes place, I think greater progress can be made by understanding the bully rather than focusing our energy on protecting the victim. This "crime and punishment" attitude towards bullying is just too short sighted and doesn't actually resolve the problem, it just outcasts him (which would probably make it even worse, but again, thats just me).

I don't have the big answer to bullying or anything. But if it were up to me, I wouldn't be bothering with this anti-bully crusade. I think a better way to handle all this would be to have some kind of class in school that teaches things like life skills, how to manage and deal with conflict, empathy, etc.

Conflict and bullying isn't exclusive to the school yard either. In the real world, whether it be on the streets or even at work, most people are bound to occassionally cross someone who sees a situation differently to them, do not agree and engage in some form of conflict. I'd rather have been told as a kid how to deal with such a situation rather than have been brought up to believe that there will always be a teacher or a school bell to save me and make the bad man disappear.

I think I'm veering off topic and I still don't think I've been articulate enough, but basically I just believe in solving the fucking problem rather than giving the bully an irritating lecture and a detention. In reality, it doesn't help the bully see the fault of his actions, it just reinforces his need to demand attention and establish his individuality.

I'll finish up by maintaining that the point of my original post was that "religion and morals" are far too vague to be used to appropriately deal with an issue that requires a more careful and open-minded approach.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

This is completely shit. Why is the US are we having these laws that are favoring religion. When it should be separation of church and state. I'm sick how of all of this, and how some of these people think its morally right with what they're doing. They are only hurting us, not helping.

 

[DYin01]

Morality is way too subjective to be ground for dismissal and religion shouldn't be adressed in law to begin with.

 

[Bishop99999999]

What does the law define as "bullying" exactly? Obviously you shouldn't let bullies verbally and physically assault gay kids, but if it's brought up against religious student groups that don't support homosexuality in the course of their faith, is that considered bullying?

 

[Ninjat_126]

I remember the anti-bullying law that helped me in middle school. Left my bully breathless. Cause the law was my fist. And I punched him in the throat. Good times.

If I did that more often, I wouldn't be quite as insane as I am now. I might even be able to function as a rationally thinking member of society.

 

[chstens]

That's not an anti-bullying law, it's a pro-bullying law!

 

[Tsaba]

So in other words it's still vague enough for people to be able to condone verbal abuse of a student if not physical, that's not a great deal better. This whole thing really just sounds like an incentive all the wrong people are going to try and exploit the loophole's this presents. I'm not going to start calling for the heads of all conservatives, I just think they need to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Holy crap, someone read the second page! I would like to look at it as, a right to free speech, I can disagree with someones life style, and not have to live in fear of reprisal of someone crying that I was "bulling them," where in itself I am the one being bullied or simply silenced. This bill is really a double edged sword if you stop to look at it.

 

[lobster1077]

Flaw in bullying law. That there's the basis for one of those joyous rap symphonies.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

If they're trying to protect Free Speech so that a student could tell their teacher that they disagree with the lesson due to moral/religious reasons, why not make THAT what the bill is primarily about? THEN they could add that the previous statement DOES NOT MEAN you can use your religion as an excuse to make another student's life hell because THEY ARE ALSO FREE to live as they choose.

Oh, that's right... Common sense and basic thought processes are banned from politics. I'll just keep watching to see if this bill actually passes and what kind of hatestorm explodes as it's abused.

 

[Vidiot]

It sounds like some of the authors of this bill could have benefited from some of the experiences I had in high school. I'm a straight guy and was repeatedly beaten and occasionally stabbed because "You're a fag, and I'd be within my rights as a good Christian to kill you right here, because God hates you freaks".

Not much consolation that he was "just practicing his freedom of religion" when you're locked in a janitors closet and losing blood.

My time in high school taught me that nobody deserves to be treated like that, no matter the excuse.

 

[Zantos]

The problem with bullying in the school I went to tended to be that it was one word against another. Especially when it's tormenting rather than violence it's very difficult to actually prove what happened. It did it's best, but unless one kid punched another in front of a teacher there was very little they could do.

When they presented a couple of anti-bullying measures, such as more cameras or taking breaks in supervised rooms instead of outside, they were told they couldn't do that because it was a school not a prison by the board of governors, the same people who were on their backs about both punishing kids without decent proof AND making the school safer from bullies.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Hmm, she does have a perfectly valid point. But my view is that the law should be there for the sake of being there. It's a law, and like many other laws should be tweaked to get the desired effect. I do think that a moral reason to justify the bullying is kinda stupid, but that's a perfect candidate for the revision of this law, you need to plug that shit up.

 

[Legit101]

................

 

[direkiller]

If they're trying to protect Free Speech so that a student could tell their teacher that they disagree with the lesson due to moral/religious reasons, why not make THAT what the bill is primarily about? THEN they could add that the previous statement DOES NOT MEAN you can use your religion as an excuse to make another student's life hell because THEY ARE ALSO FREE to live as they choose.

Oh, that's right... Common sense and basic thought processes are banned from politics. I'll just keep watching to see if this bill actually passes and what kind of hatestorm explodes as it's abused.

the way any government is structured you have to tack on pet projects to get votes(this is any current democracy government not just the US). So in order to secure religions republican votes they had to add in a protection of religious/morals speech(not act just speech).

Then you get "News" like Huff/fox that quote fish so hard the public has no idea what the bill is about they just blindly spew hatred at a way the bill could be used in the way described if you look at it funny and turn it upside and spill ink on it in the shape of a pentagram.

 

[SinisterGehe]

I have always said American school system is rotten from Government to Schools all to way to students. But this seems just stupid! (Note: I am a Finn so, this is just an outsider opinion)
I bet we are going to see kids bullying others and getting away with it for reasons like these.
Gay kids who get enough shit to begin with, just like other minorities will be hearing the. "WEll my mom and dad say that Gos and Jeesus say that being gay is wrong" <- Religious reason that can be used to justify bullying them or basically any other sexual minority.
Gingers will get the same "my Mom and Dad say Gingers have no soul" argument. Again religion based reason to justify.

And also to clarify, far as I know there is no fucking Moral reason to bully anybody, it just doesn't make sense. Not according to America's main beliefs, Christianity and the constitution. There is no moral justification to bully anyone, not in the western understanding at least.

This law as the woman pointed out is just a loophole that when kids realize this (Starting from the older kids and going down to younger and younger) they are going to use this as a reason to get away with hurting others. And specially if their parents hear that they been bullying and they assume their children are kind angels that do no wrong they can start using this reason to avoid taking ANY responsibility over their methods of raising their children.

Bullying is horrible and can not be stopped (only the severity of it can be slightly controlled), specially with something like this. I myself was a victim of bullying so far that I got beaten-up after school. They cracked my head, I lost consciousness, I bled a lot on the pool of mud where I was lying and woke up at hospital. Now I suffer from severe neurological condition that according to doctors was wither caused by the trauma directly or played major role in development of it.

I do not want this to happen to anyone else, no matter where they live or who they are. And laws like these will not prevent anything. Kids aren't stupid! They will come up with reasons to tell to the teachers to avoid punishment. And if their parents want to protect their angels from being tagged as bullies and even sued, they will come up with even better reasons and they will use them.

What a horrible law... Who ever designed it should be sent to a school yard to see what the children do to each other and watch it all. This person clearly had no idea how schools work and just want to pamper the families who's children are bullies for whatever reason, giving no comfort or safety to the victims or to their family.

 

[l3o2828]

The woman is right, Bullying is WRONG, legitimizing it is just going backwards and this is just....ugh, im so angry i can't think of how to word my thoughts...

 

[SinisterGehe]

I don't have a chance to watch the video, but 'religious or moral' reasons is the largest loop hole you possibly could create. Not to mention it will allow pretty much anyone to bully the gays/bis/lesbians all they want. They need protection more than anyone.

And don't forget a-sexual people, they get quite amount of shit if it gets out in places like high-school (like any sexual minority does). "'religious or moral' reasons" is a loophole that allows anyone to bully anyone and get away just by referring to their personal beliefs and moral ideals. Basically they can discriminate against anyone. Whatever their sexuality, gender, ethnicity, appearance... well basically any variable that defines their personality.

The fact is we can not stop bullying totally, we can only control the severity of it. We can not force everyone to be friends as the people with positive humanistic ideals think, they think we can all be friends if we want to, this is true, but fact is most of us don't want to. I don't for sure, there are people who I hate, but I don't do anything to them tho.

As I said earlier... Children are not stupid! And when the older kids learn about this and the younger kids will learn it from the they will use this to pry open the Pandora's box and not take any responsibility over it.