A quick note for Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, who singlehandledly used her lobbying power to kill SB 1462, which would have set up a system for reporting bullying on school campuses and programs to educate administrators, teachers and students on the dangers of bullying and how to spot it.
I suppose I’m supposed to be concerned that, as you reported in a blog post, that the father of an eleven year old girl had to “had to define for her the terms “homo” and ”fag” at [their] dinner table” because of an anti-bullying video shown at the child’s school. That was probably sort of awkward.
I actually had to talk to my now ten year old about those same terms, but not because of a video, but because a student at his school calls him those terms nearly every school day. Now, even though my son reported to the school’s principal that this verbal abuse was happening, even though I followed up with my own concerns, the solution was to make the bully and my son sit down and work on a project together. That “peace-building” exercise didn’t really hold up, and the child was later suspended for kicking one of my son’s classmates in the side, and then later briefly expelled. Now, the kid is back at school (apparently his mother threatened to sue the district over the expulsion) and back calling my son a “fag”. Sometimes he eases it down a bit and goes with “Harry Potter”, since my son has the unfortunate luck of needing glasses.
I honestly don’t know if this new anti-bullying law would help my son’s situation…laws aren’t always the fix for these sort of things as anyone can realize. However, I suppose I’m less concerned about the bill was endorsed by groups that seek “to redefine marriage and to force cultural acceptance and affirmation of homosexual lifestyles.” I guess I would like my son to be able to think of school as a safe place, since I suppose I’m obligated to send him there everyday.
I completely agree with Ms. Herrod that time in Arizona schools “should be for reading, writing, and arithmetic”, but it’s been a little difficult for my own child to get his head around learning when he’s nervously anticipating what might happen on the playground. Again, I guess I’m supposed to be concerned about an awkward conversation some father had with his eleven year old, but for now, I sort of have bigger fish to fry at my own house.
This article appears in Mar 15-21, 2012.
Kids need to feel safe in school. Unfortunately, many children are bullied regularly and, for them, school does not feel safe. By putting her homophobic agenda on full display, Ms. Herrod has shown she is not significantly different than the Taliban and others who put their religious ideology ahead of the rights of everyone else.
If you were ever in the position of having been bullied and have had to call the police to guard school bus stops and not get any help from school administrators or teachers you would think differently. ms herrod is slightly misinformed as to what bullying is.
“Ms herrod is slightly misinformed as to what bullying is.”
Yes well, one can teach her first hand I suppose.
But then she’ll call the police on you for “harassment”. Which is exactly what every parent should do if their child is being bullied at school: Call the police, and make SURE they visit your home and file a report.
What? You say that is overreacting?
Nope, that is what Ms. Herrod would do to protect herself.
And that is what you should do to protect your child.
You say that will cost the government lots of money and gum up the police?
I say: Yep. That’s one of my points.
very well said, dan gibson….having been an advocate for children for 30 years here in mesa, i understand the pain victims go through and also see the frustration of parents trying to solve the problem. sb 1462 was probably a small step in the right direction. and ms herrod needs to know that having to explain terms like “homo” or “fag” is not making any kind of endorsement of a lifestyle choice. i would prefer not to have to explain such terms at the dinner table. But the right of ALL students to attend school in peace, without distraction or harrassment is more important than my having to explain an unpleasant word to my kid. ms herrod, how can you not see that? how can you not see that you needing to explain this term is NOT connected to any life style choice. it is the result of parents who choose NOT TO PARENT by FAILING TO TEACH RESPECT AND DIVERSITY. it’s a big world we live in now…..none of this is going to just go away because we don’t like it. we need to make the safety of ALL children in school everyone’s priority.
Herrod’s agenda has always been hate, and her methods have always included bullying. That she would oppose efforts to stop bullying can hardly be a surprise.