Political bullies are no better than the schoolyard variety

By Dr. Andre Perry
Contributing Columnist

Rep. Austin Badon sponsored House Bill 112, dubbed the Safe Schools Act, which would have provided more definition to schools’ harassment policies but the social conservative lobby bullied enough legislators into killing the bill. Badon will just have to accept that his lunch was taken, for if the bill passed, Badon would have recourse.

The failed legislation sought to ensure that public school policies prohibit harassment, intimidation, and bullying of a student by another student and to further define what constitutes harassment, intimidation, and bullying. If we really want to create safe places for learning, we need to clarify what bullying is.

Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes, said at a recent Boys ad Girls Club conference, “Bullying is discrimination.” Indeed, bullying is a catchall term that encompasses ways children discriminate against each other. Discri­mina­tion is the maltreatment of people through prejudice. So when we bully each other, we injure based on someone’s weight, height, race, neighborhood and/or sexual orientation.

When the bill left committee it explicated harassment based on “any actual or perceived characteristic such as race, color religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, physical characteristic, political persuasion, mental disability, as well as attire or association with others identified by such categories.” However, Badon removed that language by the time the bill hit the House Floor in order to increase the likelihood of its passage. It consequently became a generic bullying bill.

Whereas discrimination is a socially unacceptable action, bullying is still largely considered a rite of passage. In discussions on the rash of recent deaths caused by bullying, you could hear under people’s breath that bullying is part of the human condition. Cynics will say that bullying is something everyone must go through. Consequently, when we deem a hateful act against another person as mere bullying, we effectually sanitize the action and soften our responsibility to address it.

Most schools have harassment policies that should enable school personnel and students to address discrimination of all types, but current policy is not working. The bill could have led to conversations about racism, classism and homophobia. Schools need to increase their capacity to deal with bullying’s specific discriminatory aspects. Height harassment is different than sexual identity harassment and the responses should be also.

In the House debate regarding the bill, Rep. Alan Seabaugh is quoted as saying, “This bill is intended to promote an agenda and teach alternative lifestyles,” i.e. the gay agenda. As the consequences for teen on teen violence continue to escalate, legislators are content to halt good policy for all children because it’s supported by a gay rights organization.

Let me get this straight; we are willing to stop safeguarding all children from harassment because we would simultaneously support a gay rights group? You don’t have to agree with homosexuality to be against harassment.
Unfortunately, the Legislature’s action proves that politico bullies are no better than the schoolyard variety, except they have more power, longer reach and a bigger stick.

This article was originally published in the May 23, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper