Bullying in Schools

When asked to pick a hot topic for this blog the first thing that came to my mind was the controversial issue of bullying in schools. Though bullying isn't a new thing that we're just all a sudden hearing about, the issue of bullying in schools is. Over the past couple of months bullying has been a hot topic in the news. Reports on how young adults have taken their own lives due to being bullied in school. One of these stories you might be familiar with, is the story of 15 year old Phoebe Prince . The young girl took her own life by hanging her self because she was tormented at school by a group of fellow classmates. What is even more disturbing is that its reported that Phoebe told on her attacks to her guidance councilor and fellow teachers, and still the bullying continued, ending in the death of the young girl (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TheLaw/teens-charged-bullying-mass-girl-kill/story?id=10231357)   I ask myself, since tragic stories like these have been popping up all over the news, what actions are being taken to prevent bullying in schools? After some research I found information on the Anti Bullying Act  http://www.wbur.org/2010/03/11/senate-bullying. The Massachusetts State Senate approved this bill after the incident with Phoebe Prince. The bill states that bullying will not be criminialized but it will be prohibited in schools, along with cyber bullying. Cyber bullying includes bullying through text messages, emails, social networks, etc. This bill also required every school to come up with a bullying prevention and intervention plan. Another idea of the bullying act, perhaps one of the more important ideas of the bullying act is that the principal of the school is required to report any bullies to the police. Only if, he believes that the bully could face criminal charges for his or her actions. This is important to me because a teacher doesn't have the authority to arrest a student for bullying, but a police officer does. Reporting incidents to a police officer could more effectively help put an end to the bullying. I think the bullying act is a good idea and it was made with all the right intentions. Do i think its going to put an end to bullying? No not really, I believe it might help put an end to it while the kids are in school, but as soon as they go home they are free to cyber bully. Whats stopping them then? Theres no punishment for posting a nasty status about a fellow classmate. Unless face book invents a no bullying act and phone companies invent a no bullying act for text messages, then bullying is always going to be there no matter what. If bullying is to end I think it needs to be a group effort, not just schools but parents as well need to be more involved. Yes, bullying happens in school but a lot happens at home under the parents supervision.  Maybe if we all get involved then we can begin to get a hold on the issue of bullying.