California is the latest in a string of states adopting anti-bullying laws after high-profile suicides of LGBT students committing suicide. New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, was recently declared unconstitutional because the state did not provide funding for it.
Seth’s Law requires schools to create strict and clear policies against harassment, receive and investigate complaints as well as require faculty and staff to intervene. It sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?
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I don’t think Seth’s Law makes bullying a crime. It just requires that schools establish guidleines to investigate cases of bullying. I think the only penalty is suspension.
http://www.nclrights.org/site/DocServer/AB_9_Fact_Sheet__2_.pdf?docID=8361
Bullies should not be above the law, and no measure will work without the threat of prison behind it. The problem is that kids are treated as second-class citizens who are just ignored when they complain of bullying, knowing that they can’t escape the situation thanks to truancy laws threaten the victim with prison, so they’re essentially cornered and tortured by bullies.
The problem with jail for bullies, isn’t so much a lack of effectiveness but a lack of practicality, since police, prosecutors, and others in authority are often bullies themselves, who are naturally part of the problem, and will often side with the bullies, making the victim feel even more helpless. Therefore, a better solution is civil prosecution, since the victim has greater advocacy with a private attorney. I’ve detailed the information on my website.
“Throwing Bullies in Jail is Not the Answer”
And of course we should release the robbers, rapists, murderers and vandals along with them, because throwing them in prison isn’t the answer either.
The most offensive thing about pompous bleeding-heart statements like these, is that they ignore the victim entirely as a mere statistic, who is blamed for not standing up for themselves etc. This “blame the victim” game essentially holds the bully blameless, and result in secondary victimization of the bully’s target by punishing them instead.
I also love this: “Standing up for yourself is an essential tool in life. Hopefully, it never entails violence, but if it’s self-defense, so be it. I believe the only way to reduce this bullying plague, is by giving kids the tools to feel secure with themselves and by helping parents teach lessons of empathy and empowerment. ”
This is the type of victim-blaming I’m talking about, and this type of ignorance is secondary victimization.