By Alexis Carr
Bullying.
Everyone know
s what it is.
Multiple people have had to face it at some point in their life.
By definition, bullying is the use of superior strength or influence to intimidate someone. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities they used to enjoy.
Monona, Wis., has developed a different approach to bullying: tickets. That’s right, tickets. In Monona, Wis. parents can now be ticketed by police and fined in municipal court if their children repeatedly bully others. This ordinance applies to anyone under the age of 18. Parents will have to pay a $144 fine for the first violation. If parents have subsequent violations in the same year, they will be fined $177 for each violation. Before being ticketed, however, “a parent or guardian must be informed in writing by an officer of a separate violation of bullying by the same minor within the prior 90 days,” according to the new ordinance.
Staff and students gave commentary regarding the topic of bullying and the new ordinance.
Catherine Hagg, a dean of students at Indian Trial, said she wasn’t familiar with the specifics of the ordinance and would need to look at it more closely before reaching a conclusion as to whether it would be helpful to reduce bullying in Kenosha.
“I would have to take a look at the bullying policy to determine what their policy specifically pertains to,” she said.
Bullying is often part of growing up. It can even regretfully persist into adulthood. Bullying can often begin as early as preschool and intensify during transitional stages, such as starting school in first grade or going into middle school. According to the Wisconsin Anti-Bullying Center, about 71 percent of students feel bullying is still an ongoing problem. Aside from mental health changes, bullying can often lead to serious outcomes such as suicide. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth between the ages of 10 and 24, resulting in about 4,600 lives lost each year.
“In middle school I was bullied by the same five kids repeatedly,” said Benjamin Rose, a Communication Academy senior.
“It was mainly a combination passive aggressive actions. For example, they would start random conversations with me during class with a lot of indirect and odd questions out of the blue. At one point I was thrown down a flight of stairs by one of them because I wasn’t walking fast enough for him. I received a minor concussion from that incident,” said Rose.
Rose wasn’t the only Indian Trail student that has experienced bullying. Adiyna Espinosa-Byrd a senior from General Studies also struggled with bullying situations as well.
“I used to be on the chubbier side when I was younger, so I was occasionally teased for that,” she said.
“There’s one scenario that I remember vividly when I was taking a bus home from school. A group of guys were making fun of my teeth. I would generally get bullied for my teeth, laugh, and weight at the time,” said Espinosa-Byrd.
“I wouldn’t be against the law if it was implemented in Kenosha,” said Espinosa-Byrd.
“I think this law is pretty fair because I believe it’s the parent’s responsibility to make sure that their child is well behaved. But on the other hand I do understand that some bullies do struggle with mental illnesses or issues with themselves that results in their negative actions. The parents should take responsibility to find the source of their child’s actions,” she said.
“Unfortunately, bullying is just one of those things that you simply can’t erase in this world. But I do believe that this law could perhaps cause a slight decrease in the amount of bullying that occurs,” said Espinosa-Byrd.
As these numbers of bullying cases began to increase, people began to realize the seriousness and affects bullying can have. Over the years, solutions have been provided to reduce and to help eliminate bullying. From implementing it into the learning curriculum such as providing exercises and role-plays for students to take part in. To the creation of anti-bullying campaigns, such as The Trevor Project and Stomp Out Bullying. However, these solutions haven’t been providing as much effectiveness as they were intended to.
“I believe anyone can argue that it is fair and unfair,” said Rose. “You’re essentially punishing the parents rather than the student themselves. In that manner it could be seen that the parents are supposed to be raising their kids, not the school. It’s not their job to teach them how to act.”