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Bullies beware: Law requires school districts to bulk up

Photo at left: Sen. Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) looks on May 12, 2010, as Gov. Jim Doyle signs a comprehensive school safety bill into law.

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State Sen. Neal Kedzie's long crusade against bullies gained some muscle earlier this month when Gov. Jim Doyle signed a comprehensive school safety bill.

Among the provisions is a requirement that school districts without a policy to address bullying either adopt one or use a model being developed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The anti-bullying provision comes straight from a bill authored by Kedzie that had passed the Senate, but never could get enough votes in the Assembly.

Working with a Special Committee on School Safety, the anti-bullying initiative became part of the new legislation.

In his weekly column Kedzie said that issue came to the forefront when a Milwaukee television news station aired a story of physical violence on school playgrounds in southeastern Wisconsin.

In addition, more than 50 percent of 600 Wisconsin teachers and counselors surveyed said their school was not doing enough to prevent bullying.

And Kedzie says lawmakers are well aware of the growing threat from cyber bullies.

This form of cruelty is more difficult, but not impossible, to trace, Kedzie says.

Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace give bullies a sense of anonymity and may empower them to take things too far, leaving their victims even more defenseless.

The Burlington School District, which includes parts of eastern Walworth County, expects to rework current anti-bullying efforts into a new policy.

Patricia Hoffman, assistant superintendent for Burlington, told the Journal Times that the district will codify something they've stood for not just decades but hundreds of years. "School people have been against bullying since schools began," she said.

The law requires that new policies be in place by Aug. 15.