In the last decade five Michigan students have taken their own lives as a result of the constant and sometime horrifying harassment from fellow classmates, according to Kevin Epling whose son was one of the deceased.
While harassment of any kind has never been acceptable at any school, some schools don’t have policies on how to prevent and deal with bullying. Others have policies, but simply don’t know how to deal with the issue. Haslett and many other schools in the state have policies in place that meet the requirements of the new anti-bullying law voted in December 6.

The new law, “Matt’s Safe School Law”, is in memory of Matt Epling, son of Kevin Eplin, and the four other students, according to www.mattepling.com.

A bill to establish anti-bullying policies in every school in Michigan has been pushed by the families of the lost students and Governor Snyder, who was a victim of bullying. After the senate passed the bill with a vote of 35-2, Snyder signed the bill with the families and went on to say that he was bullied from elementary school through college.

After being the forty-eighth state to enact a law that requires all schools to have a bullying policy set up, the Michigan Department of Education hopes to lower the rate of harassment-related deaths in teenagers. It’s a small, but much needed step to tackling bullying and harassment in all public schools in Michigan.

Haslett High School already has a bullying policy set up since 2003. It defines bullying as “the repeated intimidation, or emotional abuse of other by infliction of harm of any kind to the person or property of other whether real or threatened.” The code also states that bullying is school related if it happens on school grounds or “outside of school hours if the bullying is likely to carry some connection to, or have an effect upon, the school environment.”

“We have always had a policy that addressed physical, emotional, mental harassment,” Principal Bart Wegenke said. “For me, that’s what bullying is.” Some students feel that the administration doesn’t have a total grasp on the harassment in and out of the school. “Bullying just happens way too much without anyone ever  knowing,” junior Clayton Pelot said. “So if the staff doesn’t know about most of it, there isn’t much they can do.”

In the original proposal of the bill, it effectively condoned bullying under the appearance of religious faith. Senator Gretchen Whitmer was quick to speak against the religious exemption mentioned in the bill and it was rapidly removed. The law that passed doesn’t include the religious exemption and applies to all groups of people no matter what sex, race, or religion a student is.

“Everybody has a right to feel safe and secure in this building at all times,” Wegenke said.
All school districts in Michigan must have an anti-bullying policy set up in the next sixth months for the 2012-2013 school year. The bill doesn’t specifically mention cyber-bullying but Haslett’s policy includes any type of bullying anywhere on school property.

“If it happens outside of school on personal computers, then it’s a law enforcement issue,” Superintendent Michael Duda said. “If something is sent to you outside of school, and spills into school, the school can get involved.”
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easier for students to verbally harass other students behind a computer screen.

“I see a lot of people saying #killyourself to other people on Twitter,” Pelot said. Many students have seen bullying in and out of school and have even become victims of bullying. “I always see kids getting bullied in class,” Pelot said. “Sometimes it’s tame and sometimes it’s serious.”

The new law hopes to form  policies for schools that don’t have one in place and revise ones already in place to meet up to bigger standards.