Laws can't fix every bad behavior

Let's all stop and take a deep breath before jumping into anti-bullying legislation. Laws are not a panacea for social misbehavior that already is addressed in school conduct codes and bullying prevention programs. If a school is behind the curve, parents — not politicians — should force constructive changes.

On their website, National School Safety and Security Services, a Cleveland-based school safety consultant, says “it appears as if we are on the early end of a politically-correct trend of states creating mandatory anti-bullying laws. It also appears as if some in the school safety field are moving in the direction of overemphasizing bullying as the cause of all school safety threats. Defining bullying ... is extremely difficult to do legislatively and it can be argued that many forms of violence could be whittled down to be labeled as ‘bullying' depending upon formal definitions and those interpreting what is and is not ‘bullying.'”

Where parents and schools take their responsibilities seriously, there's no need to turn to legislators always eager to pass social engineering laws.

Bruce K. Dixon

Naperville