"Matt’s Safe School Law"

Recently there has been a lot of media attention devoted to bullying and suicide in schools. While I certainly have a lot to say on the matter, I will keep this brief. Take a look at the following quote, taken from this article and written by Amy Sullivan, that talks about how politicians in Michigan decided to tackle the issue:

This year, Republicans only agreed to consider an anti-bullying measure that did not require school districts to report bullying incidents, did not include any provisions for enforcement or teacher training, and did not hold administrators accountable if they fail to act. 

In response to several recent suicides, the politicians in charge decided to pass a bill against bullying that didn't actually do anything. Under this bill, teachers, administrators, and school boards don't actually have to prevent bullying, discourage bullying, or even report bullying, which is the lowest level of ethical action that one can take. While that should be deplorable in and of itself, it gets far, far worse:

On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled state senate passed an anti-bullying bill that manages to protect school bullies instead of those they victimize. It accomplishes this impressive feat by allowing students, teachers, and other school employees to claim that “a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction” justifies their harassment.

Good work, Michigan Republicans. You're responsible for changing a bill that would have prevented bullying into a bill that will encourage bullying.

Thank goodness the system is in such capable hands.