Saturday, April 9, 2011

Bill Calls on Schools to Report Bullying of Special Needs Pupils




Bill Calls on Schools to Report Bullying of Special Needs Pupils

Who is the typical school bullying victim? Truthfully he or she can be anyone of any age.  Typically most victims are middle school students.  They can be rich, poor, pretty, not so pretty, smart, average intelligence, black, white, Asian, overweight, skinny and disabled. From Autism to wheelchair bound children, bullying does not discriminate. Bullying can be extremely tough for disabled victims, according to California Congresswoman Jackie Speir.
  She believes that disabled students have a tough time in school to begin with and then too add, "the extra burden of bullying," she states, "is simply unacceptable."  The Congresswoman states what bullying awareness sites tout consistently and that is, bullying can seriusly harm the physical and psychological well being of its victims. Because many times bullying incorporates bystanders, who witness the bullying, the bullying effects ingrain itself into those children as well causing its own set of unique health hazards.

Therefore Congresswoman Spier will propose a law for those schools that receive FEDERAL money to report incidents of bullying to the federal government to include whether the bulling involved children with disabilities.

Photo: Courtesy of Hendersonville Public Library

1 comment:

  1. Kudos to Congresswoman Spier for recognizing the need for a monitoring tool that will help to understand how and why incidents of bullying against disabled children seem to be so prevalent in our schools. My son's childhood was destroyed because of school bullying. The psychological injury as a result is something he will carry for the rest of his life. When a child is more harmed by their public education than helped, something is seriously wrong in this country.

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