Suicide of 12 year old UP girl renews debate on anti-bullying legislation

News last week of the suicide of a 12-year-old middle school student in Michigan’s upper peninsula has activists and lawmakers renewing their calls for swift action on stalled legislation that supporters say would help prevent bullying.

Calling the news of the death of Kimberly Linczeski “upsetting and frustrating,” Kevin Epling, co-director of BullyPolice USA, said that if the anti-bullying law been passed in December of 2008, the suicide might have been prevented.

“Since ‘Matt’s Law’ was stopped by (State Sen.) Alan Cropsey we have endured three additional deaths, including Kimberly,” Epling said in an e-mail to Michigan Messenger. “We lost a full year of educational awareness that very possibly could have saved a life. Having a law will require schools to have a policy which can help parents, students and staff work together on issues rather than being on two separate sides of the same issue. We all want our children to be safe, but we need to work harder, and better as a team.”

The legislation, which if passed would be called Matt’s Law, is named after Epling’s 14-year-old son who committed suicide after enduring bullying in the East Lansing Public Schools. The phenomenon of suicides as a way to address bullying has been labeled Bullycide by Epling and others in the field.

Staffers for Sen. Ron Jelinek (R-Three Oaks Township) said Monday the senator will meet later this week with Education Committee Chair Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) to discuss schedules related to passing the legislation.

The Marquette Mining Journal reported Thursday that Linczeski’s suicide occurred earlier this month. Ontonagon Sheriff officials told the newspaper the alleged role of bullying in the suicide was being investigated.

“[Ontonagon Sheriff John] Gravier said no suicide note was found in the home, but police are looking at computers used at school and other sources to conclusively determine whether she left such a message elsewhere.

Gravier said initial interviews with students after the incident led them to look into the possibility bullying at the school may have been a contributing cause in Kimberly’s death.”

Linczeski’s mother told the newspaper her daughter had been the target of bullying for “months.”

School officials, while not dismissing the issue of bullying, are also not addressing the issue. In a prepared statement to the Journal, School Superintendent Gray Webber said the only person who knew why Linczeski committed suicide was Linczeski and that anything beyond that was “speculation.”

Michigan is one of only nine states in the country without comprehensive anti-bullying legislation. Advocates have been pushing for such a law for nearly a decade. During the 2008 lame duck session in December, lawmakers very nearly passed the legislation. But conservative Republican Sen. Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) stopped the bill from getting a vote on the Senate floor. The compromise bill, which Cropsey rejected, would have stripped out a list of enumerated characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity, that made the bill controversial.

That compromise language resulted in a schism in the Safe Schools Coalition.

In September 2009, Sen. Glenn Anderson, a Democrat from Westland, attempted to pass the legislation he sponsored. He brought it up for a vote, in an attempt to circumvent the Senate Education Committee. The legislation failed to pass.

Bernadette Brown, policy director for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group Triangle Foundation, said Michigan should follow the lead of Massachusetts. The northeastern state’s legislature unanimously passed anti-bullying legislation last week. That law is headed to the governor’s desk and if signed would mean there are only eight states without anti-bullying laws, including Michigan.

“After the second bullycide occurred in Massachusetts, they decided that was enough,” Brown said in an e-mail statement. “There have been at least six bullycides in Michigan and the Senate still has not acted on Matt’s Safe School Law. How many children need to die in Michigan before we have had enough?”

Megan Brown, a spokesperson for Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the suicide was “heart-breaking,” and that the governor continues to support the legislation.

“This is one more tragic example of why this important legislation is needed,” Brown said.

State Sen. Michael Prusi (D-Ispheming) is not only the Senate Minority Leader, he also represents the district where Linczeski was allegedly bullied and committed suicide.

“The old ‘kids will be kids’ answer doesn’t cut it anymore,” Prusi said in an e-mail to Michigan Mesenger, noting he was uncertain if the legislation would have prevented the suicide in his district. “There should be hearings held on the bill with an honest attempt made to resolve whatever problems the majority has with the legislation. Just sitting on it ignores an issue that cries out for action.”

Prusi said Messenger should call Kuipers who chairs the Senate Education Committee and “ask why the bill has not had a hearing yet.”

Calls to Kuipers office were not returned by press time.

The legislation garnered renewed focus briefly in December as lawmakers worked on education reform legislation in order to qualify for a slice of $400 million in federal education cash. At the time, lawmakers said the legislation could be a perfect fit in relation to Race to the Top reforms working their way through the legislature, particularly since U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is a strong proponent of anti-bullying laws. The RTTT program was also designed to address drop out rates and studies have found that students who are bullied are more likely to skip school and/or drop out of school altogether.

Michigan’s application for the federal cash was rejected earlier this month.

When asked if Michigan’s lack of anti-bullying laws impacted the state’s application, Brown, a spokesperson for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said only: “We will receive feedback on our application from U.S. Department of Education in early April. That is our starting point for round 2. We are not speculating on what individual reforms would have made a difference until then.”