(ABOVE) Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signs anti-bullying legislation sponsored by Representative Smith.
Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb recently signed an anti-bullying bill that was motivated by the suicide death of 13-year-old Terry Badger of Covington.
It was State Legislator Dr. Vernon Smith of Gary who heard the Badger family story and wanted to see some changes. And he related it to what often seems to happen in schools in his district when a bullied person goes to someone at school that they think will listen to them.
AUDIO: They’ve been told, “Oh man up, don’t be a sissy. Don’t be a punk. What do you want me to do about it.” That kind of stuff.
Indiana State Rep Dr. Vernon Smith
So after being told, “handle this yourself;” that, unfortunately, is exactly what often happens next. This can mean a fight in school; or even worse, a gun incident. Then, Dr. Smith says, the student gets suspended after they were told to handle it themselves. It should be obvious, he says, that there’s a better way, and that the school personnel need to do their jobs being someone kids can trust. And that’s what the signed Indiana legislation requires; effort and accountability. Smith says that goes for the schools keeping the track of the problem, and the state making sure the schools are doing so.
AUDIO: It’s evident from the research that many of our educational leaders are not documenting the problem; not keeping a record of the people who are being abused as well as the perpetrators. And so what this bill will do is hopefully hold them accountable to doing that. However, it’s not going to work if the state doesn’t monitor it. Somebody has to be responsible for monitoring, because you don’t get change without monitoring.
Dr. Smith says he hopes other states will observe this. He says it may not be a “stop bullying in its tracks moment,” but it can certainly be a step in the right direction.
