Gov't At Work

[mark_asphodel]

So, Michigan recently became the 48th state in the union to pass an anti-bullying bill.  Not sure how well that's actually going to work as a preventative measure, really, and the law's not written especially well, so it's the kind of thing that's more "yay, we protected kids" than something that will actually stop kids from being bullied, IMO.   

The interesting part is the discrepancy between the State Senate and State House versions of the bill (that, in accordance with practice of bicameral legislatures, had to be reconciled before it went to the governor to sign).

The Senate version contained a religious exemption for bullies.  Specifically, it exempted bullying actions that arose from "a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.”  

Think about that one long and hard.  I'm not even going to offer you test scenarios, because you're all intelligent enough to come up with them on your own.  I will add that one part of Michigan is very Catholic, that one is very conservative Protestant, and the precise dot on the map where I happen to live has a large concentration of Muslims.  It wasn't merely a useless bill, it was worded in a way to be actively harmful, granting legal protection to certain classes of bullies.  A real achievement there, guys. 

[I think the paper trail makes it apparent that the bill was intended to NOT protect GLBT students, but I personally was looking forward to the kind of craziness that would bubble out of Dearborn re: Muslim/Christian relations if the stupid thing passed.] 

Every Republican in the Senate voted for it, every Democrat voted against it, and the breakdown of seats being what it currently is, it passed.  Fortunately the state House, though not often known as a bastion of common sense, didn't have that language in the bill, and after a good deal of outcry, screaming, letters, etc, the House bill became the one adopted by the Senate and sent to Governor Snyder.

The lesson?  Your elected representatives can and will pass legislation that is so awful you'd never even think of something like it on your own.  The only way to stop that is for the groups being targeted to make themselves heard and apply pressure accordingly.  Otherwise you end up with laws that allow a teacher to bully a student out of "sincere moral conviction."  

Comments

[crimsonmorgan.livejournal.com]

"Ewwwwww" is the only word that describes this whole business adequately for me. That thinking is dusgusting.

[xirysa.livejournal.com]

When I first heard about the bill being passed, I was curious (and admittedly rather skeptical) about the practicality of it versus how well it would work in theory--like you said, the whole idea of it just said, "okay, kids are protected whoo" to me, among other things. Sometimes that apparent lack of common sense and everything else in government just baffles me.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Sometimes that apparent lack of common sense and everything else in government just baffles me.

Well, many bad laws happen for the exact same reason that good laws happen-- a vocal group of people demands a solution to what they perceive is a problem that government can fix. Ever heard the saying "Bad cases make bad law?" You have some high-profile suicides? Pass a law. You have some specific sympathetic focus group, like breast cancer patients? Pass a law so that they have certain services covered by law (but all other forms of cancer apparently don't matter as much). Someone shoots up a high school? Better pass a law... even though last I checked murder was already illegal.

People get the government they're willing to fight for. If your dream is to have a very bad law passed, and you kick up enough fuss and put in enough effort, you'll probably get it.

[raphiael]

MA's had some heavily publicized hazing incidents and suicides that were apparently linked to bullying. Both things also had heavily publicized laws passed about them before this, and from what my sister's said, all she's seen is that she got extra packets at the beginning of the school year. If anything, I think even the laws without exemptions for "convictions" are harmful -- just doing that and calling it a day is clearly not helping anyone.

At the same time, how even do you regulate something like that? It just seems like a totally untenable approach, to me.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

It just seems like a totally untenable approach, to me.

Agreed.

It'll work about as well as Prohibition.

[amielleon]

I'm very glad the House version was the one that was passed.

That said, we need a sincere change in beliefs about what's culturally acceptable to actually do anything about the bullying problem.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

we need a sincere change in beliefs about what's culturally acceptable

Exactly.

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

As long as the classroom bullies are like the ones I had to put up with-- little charmers who were much better at endearing themselves to their teachers than awkward kids like me-- their behavior will continue regardless of whatever band-aid-on-a-bullet-wound legislation gets passed.

The exemption bit is... well, sickening in a lot of ways... but now that I think on it, couldn't a teacher or student with a "serious religious/moral conviction" against bullying use that to their advantage? I mean, it would probably be only as likely or effective as someone standing up against a bully would be without that law... eh, guess it doesn't matter now.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

their behavior will continue regardless of whatever band-aid-on-a-bullet-wound legislation gets passed.

Yeah, I don't know what would've stopped any of the sort of bullying I put up with as a kid. I came to the conclusion a while ago that the actual purpose of group schooling, as opposed to home schooling, is to impress upon a child the understanding that people are cruel fuckwits[*], which happens to be a very good lesson to take into the workplace.

. but now that I think on it, couldn't a teacher or student with a "serious religious/moral conviction" against bullying use that to their advantage?

It could be applied in all kinds of interesting ways! However, IMO it was pretty obvious that the intent of that wording was to not cover GLBT kids, which alone is a reason to kill that version of the bill.

* Yes, some learn that part at home, but the lessons are different and often not as applicable to professional life.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

*winces*

That one's so bad, I'm surprised the Ohio electorate hasn't thought of it.