[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E702-E703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE NEED TO ACT AGAINST BULLYING

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 2, 2001

  Mr. FRANK. Mr. Speaker, in our national effort to find policies which 
to put an end to the terrible tragedies of school children shooting 
each other to death, one very promising development has been the 
increasing attention to the problem of bullying. We have for far too 
long made the mistake of indulging bullying, and in ignoring the 
anguish of those who are victimized by it. A 30-year-old adult who is 
being severely taunted and physically harassed by others can receive 
legal help. But a 15-year-old is often told that it is his or her 
responsibility to deal with this without any outside intervention, and 
that is both cruel and can lead to a dangerous results. This has been a 
particular problem with students who are--or are thought to be by their 
school mates--gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. And especially 
in this latter class of cases, students who learn that bullying and 
physical violence abuse are OK in high school sometimes extrapolate 
from that the message that violent assault and even murder are OK a few 
years after the high school.
  In the April 26 edition of the newspaper Bay Windows, an extremely 
responsible journal published weekly in Boston, with a particular focus 
on matters relevant to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered 
community, editor Jeff Epperly wrote a first rate editorial on this 
subject. Mr. Epperly's points are very important ones for those 
formulating public policy to understand, and I submit this extremely 
well reasoned and eloquent piece to be printed here.

                   [From Bay Windows, Apr. 26, 2001]

             Bullying Is Not a ``normal'' Part of Childhood

                           (By Jeff Epperly)

       ``Stick and stones may break my bones, but names will never 
     hurt me,'' was the

[[Page E703]]

     dismissive reply that came from a school administrator with 
     whom I was discussing the often brutal treatment heaped upon 
     openly gay--or perceived-to-be-gay--students in schools. That 
     was shortly after I started at this paper nearly 15 years 
     ago. In the intervening years that children's schoolyard 
     chant has been, in the context of how gays should deal with 
     verbal abuse, thrown in my face by everyone from police 
     officers to mainstream newspaper columnists.
       For too many years, the attitude of many school 
     administrators and teachers toward student-on-student 
     harassment has been that it's a ``normal'' part of growing 
     up. Gay students, like kids who are overweight or have speech 
     problems, should learn to lighten up, ignore the taunts or 
     fight back in the face of abuse. But as anyone who's followed 
     this issue knows, anti-gay harassment rarely stops at name-
     calling. Openly gay or lesbian students can attest, along 
     with girls who are a little too masculine, or boys who are a 
     little too feminine, that sticks and stones are just some of 
     the items used to pummel and ostracize those who dare to be 
     different.
       But even if we were to assume for the sake of argument that 
     anti-gay harassment in schools rarely escalates beyond verbal 
     taunts, the unrelenting nature of anti-gay verbal harassment, 
     along with the sense of isolation that accompanies it, makes 
     for an uneven playing field for gay and lesbian students who 
     are supposed to be guaranteed the equal opportunity to learn. 
     Speak at length with adult victims of systematic anti-gay 
     verbal attacks committed by hateful neighbors, and you 
     understand how ongoing harassment can make simply living in 
     one's home unbearable. Imagine what it must be like for 
     targeted students in the captive environment of a school. The 
     effort and desire to learn lag far behind the simple act of 
     trying to preserve one's dignity while keeping one eye out 
     for the bullies behind you. That so many of these students 
     suffer academically is not surprising.
       (There is also increasing evidence that schoolyard 
     bullying, now the subject of intense study by
       Students and parents in many districts have begged 
     administrators to stop such harassment--even after it has 
     escalated to physical violence, and even though some teachers 
     and administrators themselves have taken part in the 
     harassment. Many times, as Wisconsin student Jamie Nabozny 
     could attest, the student being harassed is made to feel as 
     if he or she is the culprit for having the temerity to simply 
     be who they are.
       It was in 1997 that Nabozny caused a stir in school board 
     meetings across the country after he got fed up and sued the 
     school district that failed to see how its inaction was 
     affecting his rights to equal educational opportunities. He 
     won in a landmark ruling in federal court. In a heartening 
     after-effect, more students and their parents, emboldened by 
     the Nabozny decision have stepped forward and are filing 
     similar suits against their school districts for similar 
     reasons.
       Some pundits are already saying that these cases are just 
     one more example of how destructively litigious American 
     society has become. But these cases cannot be compared to 
     lawsuit-obsessed citizens trying to wring money from slip-
     and-fall accidents or restaurants who dare to serve hot 
     coffee which is then spilled on some klutz's lap. These cases 
     are legitimate examples of citizens seeking redress from the 
     judicial branch of government when the executive and 
     legislative branches are unable or unwilling to offer equal 
     protection to its citizens.
       But court action alone will hardly solve the problem. And 
     it's not just gay kids who are being tormented. Nor is it 
     only gay kids who are bringing guns and knives to school to 
     gain revenge on their tormenters. So it's heartening to hear 
     that the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is 
     working with other education organizations to make sure that 
     school administrators and other government officials continue 
     to work toward programs and solutions for a problem that 
     ought not ever again be covered up or dismissed.

     

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