Why Anti-Bullying Laws Don't Work
Matthew Long
4 December 2012 Final Paper 3
Aristotle once said, "The one thing no state or government can do, no matter how good it is, is to make its citizens morally virtuous." Laws made by the government can be made and enforced as much as they want, but that doesn’t mean the laws will be followed. This is perfectly exemplified but the anti-bullying laws. Just because these laws and rules are in place doesn’t mean the government can make people obey them. Anti-bullying laws have been put in place in order to try to put a stop to bullying, but they are not helping. Instead the problem of bullying has only escalated because of the efforts to enforce the laws.
Anti-bullying laws have been created in just about every state. Even though they all vary to a certain extent state by state they all carry the same basic pieces. The laws try to stop bullying through the use of school programs that were mandated by the legislature. As time goes on the government sees that the laws aren’t working so they try to enforce the laws more by making them stricter. However that hasn’t worked thus far. This legislature was not well thought out there is no way to force bullies in school to behave. The government was trying to use a blanket solution by coming up with a legislature that deals with the problem of bullying in school, but this problem couldn’t be resolved just through school. Teachers and even administration alone cannot prevent bullying because they are in a position of authority. The last person a disruptive child is going to listen to is someone in charge because of their problem with authority.
Whether the bully is male or female or young or old they are still a problem that needs to be stopped. Pamela Paul talks about Scarlet the daughter of an artist and about the bullying she goes through when she said, “Mean-girl behavior, typically referred to by professionals as relational or social aggression and by terrified parents as bullying has existed for as long as
4 December 2012 Final Paper 3
Aristotle once said, "The one thing no state or government can do, no matter how good it is, is to make its citizens morally virtuous." Laws made by the government can be made and enforced as much as they want, but that doesn’t mean the laws will be followed. This is perfectly exemplified but the anti-bullying laws. Just because these laws and rules are in place doesn’t mean the government can make people obey them. Anti-bullying laws have been put in place in order to try to put a stop to bullying, but they are not helping. Instead the problem of bullying has only escalated because of the efforts to enforce the laws.
Anti-bullying laws have been created in just about every state. Even though they all vary to a certain extent state by state they all carry the same basic pieces. The laws try to stop bullying through the use of school programs that were mandated by the legislature. As time goes on the government sees that the laws aren’t working so they try to enforce the laws more by making them stricter. However that hasn’t worked thus far. This legislature was not well thought out there is no way to force bullies in school to behave. The government was trying to use a blanket solution by coming up with a legislature that deals with the problem of bullying in school, but this problem couldn’t be resolved just through school. Teachers and even administration alone cannot prevent bullying because they are in a position of authority. The last person a disruptive child is going to listen to is someone in charge because of their problem with authority.
Whether the bully is male or female or young or old they are still a problem that needs to be stopped. Pamela Paul talks about Scarlet the daughter of an artist and about the bullying she goes through when she said, “Mean-girl behavior, typically referred to by professionals as relational or social aggression and by terrified parents as bullying has existed for as long as
Cited: Bennett, Jessica. "From Lockers to Lockup." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 04 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2012. Paul, Pamela. "CULTURAL STUDIES; The Playground Gets Even Tougher." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2010. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.