2SecondsFaster.com

We hear about it almost everyday.  Bully’s are beginning to control everything.  The school systems have made themselves a safe haven for bully’s and a prison for the rule abiding students.  We all know that it has gotten so bad that kids are now hurting each other and themselves because of the frustration and anger they feel that the bully’s are allowed to bully leaving the victims to fend for themselves.

Example – my nephew was sitting on a railing reading a book.  Some kids came over and knocked him down and made fun of him.  When my sister went to talk to the principal about it she was told that it was her son’s fault for allowing himself to be the victim.  Huh?  If he had stood up for himself he would have gotten in trouble for causing a fight and not controlling his anger and if he doesn’t stand up for himself it is his fault for not standing up for himself.  The reason this happened was because the school didn’t want to deal with the bully’s parents who file complaints and lawsuits every time their children get in trouble.

This isn’t just one child’s story at one school in one state.  It is everywhere.  It is on the TV and in the newspapers.  Kids are getting sick and tired of being mistreated with no one in authority helping them.

I’m proud to say that the Hoosier state has set an example for all schools across America to follow.

Governor Mitch Daniels (R) devoted part of his State of the State address to a call for a new school discipline law after campaigning for it along with new school superintendent Tony Bennett. Monday, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Bennett and the governor delivered.

"The bill we’re about to sign, as best we can tell, is the strongest in America in empowering teachers to control their classrooms and really ending the threat of legal harassment," said Daniels.

The governor’s signature is meant to protect teachers against unruly students and unreasonable parents in what the governor calls a unique approach to a common problem.

The goal is to eliminate legal challenges and create an environment where teachers can focus on instruction rather than the students who cause trouble.

Under the new law, teachers have legal immunity from lawsuits related to discipline.

And, in the event of a lawsuit, the attorney general will defend it.

Things to note – the teachers have legal immunity if it relates to discipline and nothing else.  If the teacher berates a child, that is not discipline.  If a teacher sexually assaults a student, that is not discipline.  It means that a student or the parents cannot file a lawsuit because the school gave the bully a detention s/he deserves. 

My nephew took the right approach in a scary situation and got punished for doing so.  His actions should have been rewarded because he didn’t make the situation worse by falling into the bully’s trap of trying to start a fight.  There are consequences to our actions, some are good and some are bad.  It’s about time we start to let our kids know that the good is good and the bad is bad.