Granholm pushes anti-bullying legislation

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is using her weekly radio address, released Friday, to ratchet up the pressure on the state senate to act on anti-bullying legislation.

Legislation passed the Michigan House Thursday on a 76-29 vote. But it is now on its way to the Republican controlled state senate, which activists say has been the legislative stumbling block for years.

To counter that legislative inertia, Granholm took to the radio waves pushing for quick consideration and passage of the legislation.

The text of her address follows:

Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.

School bullying is not harmless. It can have serious, even deadly, consequences.

Last year, a sophomore at Cadillac High School committed suicide. It wasn’t until after the teenager’s death that it was discovered that he had been harassed and ostracized at school by a small group of students.

And unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. There are other cases in Michigan and throughout the nation of children who’ve taken their own lives after being bullied.

Bullying is not an infrequent occurrence in our schools. A recent survey of 200 high school students conducted by the Oakland Schools Intermediate School District found that 84 percent of the students surveyed had witnessed teasing, insults or rumor-spreading about another student.

The effects of bullying can be devastating. The Michigan Association of School Social Workers reports that students who’ve been bullied have had their education disrupted and sometimes completely derailed by bullying. The fear created by bullies can increase school absenteeism, decrease academic performance and heighten the risk of suicide.

School social workers also say that for the victims of bullies, the serious emotional and social consequences of bullying are not easily repaired, and they can last for years. And the emotional violence of bullying impacts all students by creating a threatening and hostile school environment.

For students to learn, they need a safe environment. An anti-bullying law will ensure that each of the more than 3,700 public schools in Michigan will have an anti-bullying policy.

I first proposed an anti-bullying law in 2006, and Michigan is one of only eight states without such a law.

In 2007, the Michigan House of Representatives passed anti-bullying legislation known as “Matt’s Safe School Law.” It was so named in honor of Matthew Epling, a young East Lansing student who took his life after being bullied by other students. The law would require every public school in Michigan to adopt a policy that prohibits harassment or bullying at school. But the Michigan Senate failed to pass the legislation.

Matt’s Safe School Law was reintroduced in this current legislative session. We can’t afford further delay. The Legislature needs to send to my desk a bill that will help put an end to harassment and bullying in our schools.

Protecting our young people must be our number one priority. It’s time for the Michigan Legislature to pass an anti-bullying law for our schools. We must do everything we can to prevent the tragedy of teens taking their lives because they can no longer take the bullying.

Thank you for listening.