Bullying: A Problem Legislation Cannot Solve

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The years students spend within the school environment can be some of the most exciting, enjoyable, rewarding, and memorable years of their lives; making new friends, attending dances, having parities, joining clubs. These years can also be memorable for another reason; bullying. No doubt the time spent in the educational environment can have a significant impact on not only the present quality of students’ lives but also on their future; into young adulthood and beyond. It is with this understanding that parents and educators wish to do what is within their power in order to prevent bullying, and assure a positive present and future for every student. But having the best interests of another at heart doesn’t excuse hasty or ill-conceived interventions; especially when they may lead to greater troubles for those who were meant to benefit from such interventions, and who could not act on their own behalf to implement or prevent such interventions. Though parents, educators, and adults desire the best for the nation’s youth and measures should be taken in order to ensure a healthy environment for students, the United States federal government should not enact laws to prevent bullying. Bullying behavior has been experienced by many over the course of human history, but, while this problem has become a prominent issue of recent time, there isn’t enough research that supports a single legislative solution that could be enforced with universal results.

Bullying has become a prominent focus in recent years for parents, educators, and legislatures, yet there are conflicting opinions and conflicting evidence about the solution to the problem, and whether bullying is even as severe as it is being portrayed. Joseph Simplicio, author of the...

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...in, Jennifer, Dewey Cornell, Timothy Konold. “Relationships Between Bullying, School Climate, and Student Risk Behaviors.” School Psychology Quarterly 27.3 (2012): 154- 169. PsyARTICLES. Web. 21 Feb 2014.

“NEA’s Bully Free: It Starts With Me.” National Education Association. National Education Association. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

O’Brennan, Lindsey M., Tracy E. Waasdorp, and Catherine P. Bradshaw. "Strengthening Bullying Prevention Through School Staff Connectedness." Journal Of Educational Psychology (2014): PsycARTICLES. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

Simplicio, Joseph. "Suck it up, walk it off, be a man: a controversial look at bullying in today's schools." Education 133.3 (2013): 345+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.

“Zero Tolerance Policies Earn a Big Fat ‘F’” National Education Association. National Education Association. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

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