License to bully

I don't read the suburban newspaper for my community, though every so often they throw a copy on my driveway in hopes I'll subscribe. I did get a couple issues this week and found them timely because they included their endorsements for city council and school board, the only races on Tuesday's ballot.

The paper also included a news article that included comments from my state senator Glenn Anderson, who I mentioned yesterday. For perhaps a decade, starting when he was a state Rep., Anderson has been trying to get an anti-bullying law passed. Repeatedly, some GOP legislator would find a reason to trap it in committee or simply refuse to allow a full-chamber vote.

This past week the GOP finally acted on it. They turned it into what Anderson calls a "license to bully." Dems are outraged. The bill is named after Matt Epling, a boy who committed suicide after being bullied. Matt's parents are furious with what the GOP did. The bill quickly passed the House and Senate and now awaits the Gov's. signature. Here's what the GOP did:

* Removed enumeration. This is the list of categories of kids -- gay, overweight, wrong race, disabled, etc. -- that are explicitly protected by the law. Gay organizations have long known that without enumeration too many adults look at a gay kid being bullied and say, "But that's not really bullying so I can ignore it."

* Refused to cover cyberbullying. Facebook, Twitter, and email have become a popular way for one student to bully another.

* Refused to protect teachers and other staff from being bullied.

* Refused to require schools to track the effectiveness of the law.

* Permitted bullying if it involves "a statement of sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction."

Since nearly all bullying of gays is due to "sincerely held religious beliefs" the bill, instead of banning bullying, tells students how to go about their bullying and get away with it. Want to bully some kid? Here's how to do it legally! Do it online or make sure you have a religious reason for your actions.

Now that both chambers have passed the law the GOP can now say, "An anti-bullying law? Been there, done that. No need to bring it up again. Besides, the current version is working," because there is no way to tell it isn't. Except kids keep committing suicide out of desperation.