EDHS Contemporary World Affairs

In the wake of last month's suicides, a bill was introduced in Congress that would protect all students including gay or transgender ones from bullying and harassment and would require schools to report on the prevalence of such harmful activity to the Department of Education each year. But bullying is a problem teachers and administrators say is hard to define, let alone monitor and one that could leave schools open to more lawsuits from the parents of bullied children. Indeed, a lawyer for Atlanta resident Masika Bermudez says she plans to sue the DeKalb County School System for a "substantial amount" for alleged negligence involving her 11-year-old son, Jaheem Herrera, who hanged himself in his bedroom closet on April 16. Bermudez says she complained to officials at Dunaire Elementary School that the fifth-grader was being taunted by bullies who called him "gay" and a "snitch" and who once put him in a sleeper hold in a school bathroom. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)

The school system released an internal report today that concluded Herrera had not been subjected to more teasing than his peers. At a press conference, retired judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, who was brought in by the school district to conduct the investigation, pointed to the difficulty Dunaire, like all schools, faces in monitoring bullying. "There is name-calling, there is teasing, but I will tell you that it is almost always done outside the presence of adults," Moore said. "There is a code of silence among the students."

Bermudez's lawyer, Gerald Griggs, said today that his client will nevertheless go forward with her intent to sue the school system. He said that Bermudez complained to the school about bullying eight times, but the school system only acknowledged five of those complaints. Each time, Griggs said, Bermudez complained to the principal and to her son's homeroom teacher. "Who did [DeKalb County Schools] talk to in this independent investigation?" he said.

Griggs said the National Action Network will stage a protest outside of Herrera's former elementary school on Friday and that the Rev. Al Sharpton is planning to attend a town-hall meeting next week about what happened at Dunaire. Since Herrera's suicide, other parents in DeKalb County have come forward alleging that the school system ignored their children's complaints about bullying.

The case has renewed national attention on bullying and how schools define, prevent and respond to it. The federal anti-bullying bill introduced in the House of Representatives on May 5 would require schools receiving funding from the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to implement comprehensive anti-bullying policies that define categories targeted by bullies among them race, religion and sexual orientation. Another provision would require states to report bullying and harassment data to the Federal Government. Although current laws provide federal support to promote school safety, they do not focus on issues of bullying or harassment. 

Bullying has come to extreme levels these days, especially since it can be done on the internet.  Kids need to speak up if they're being hurt but most of them are too scared to because they are afraid of being called a "tattle tail" or that they might be beat up again.  It is especially worse when it's only done behind the teacher's back.  What do you think about the bill Congress introduce that'll protect kids from being bullied?  What do you think about self esteem programs or anti-bullying programs to help kids have more confidence and tell them what they should do if they are ever bullied?