Put a Stop to Bullying through Legislation

 

Written by: Cindy Muse, MCCOY Board Member

The commonly held definition of bullying by those in the field is repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. 

As I was growing up, I was bullied by a group of guys – surrounded on a city street and subjected to taunts – in junior high school and in high school by a bigger size girl who pushed and taunted me.  My son, just as cell phones, e-mail, Facebook were becoming the norm, was also bullied by a group of guys during his senior year in high school.  My son and I could see the faces of our bullies – we knew who they were.  Today, bullying is often not done face to face and sometimes the bully is faceless.  

  

MCCOY (Marion County Commission on Youth) is working to bring interested organizations and persons together to address the bullying problem among our youth and help craft state legislation to define bullying and mandate training for both youth and their teachers.  I recently participated in a roundtable with State Representative Greg Porter discussing legislation he wants to introduce in 2013 to the Indiana General Assembly.  I applaud MCCOY for taking the lead on helping to provide Representative Porter the support he needs to move forward with his bill.  Hopefully this year, the anti-bullying legislation will be heard and voted out of committee, passed by both legislative bodies and signed by the new governor!

To learn more about MCCOY's Anti-bullying legislation and to lend your voice, visit: http://www.mccoyouth.org/Advocacy/advocacy.html.