Anti-Bullying Laws in Texas

“Legislature Spotlights Bullying in Schools” by Morgan Smith
New York Times (Texas Tribune), March 3, 2011

Topic: Anti bullying laws are being created all over the country, this article gives an overview of the need for and the development and enforcement of anti-bullying laws in Texas.

Summary: Texas has been home to some highly publicized bullying incidents over the years, the article mentions interviews with victims of bullying and how it has impacted these kids. The victims interviewed are being bullied for their sexual orientation or their perceived sexual orientation or other gender related issues (one student mentioned was trans). The article talks about the removal of the reference to sexual identity or orientation.

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• Recent suicide of Asher Brown gave momentum to anti-bullying bills filed in the legislature.
• School codes and even State laws regarding bullying can be vague/difficult to enforce
• Opposition to the legislation ranges from the ACLU to the Liberty Institute (a conservative legal organization.

Relevance: Interesting follow up to the afternoon session where we learned about laws in Oregon. I was surprised to see that this legislation faced opposition from both sides. For me, the take home point from this article, and the stories we heard about bullying this weekend were that even if there are anti-bullying codes/laws in place, for them to be effective, they need to be enforced at ground level. If there is no support or enforcement at the classroom or school level, the laws are ineffective.