Legislature Spotlights Bullying in Schools

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04ttbullying.html?_r=1&ref=education

This article spotlights the bullying that is taking place within the schools around the nation and the antibullying bills that have been filed for this upcoming legislative session. In Texas, the most highly publicized of those stories is Asher Brown’s. Asher, an eighth grader at a Cypress-Fairbanks middle school, shot himself last fall after what his parents said was two years of harassment for his small size, religion and perceived sexuality. I am so tired of hearing about these tragic stories of young teens taking their own lives because of the non-stop harrassment that they have to endure in their own school. Something drastic needs to occur very fast. The article states that ne challenge is how to define punishable behavior. State Representative Todd Smith, Republican of Bedford, said he was skeptical of any bill’s ability to provide “a clear, bright line definition of bullying.” I believe that there is a very clear line and definition of bullying. If a student feels the need to come to you and address an issue that he is facing, then that is clear enough for me to take action.