To: Governor Mike DeWine
Issue mandatory school suspensions for all forms of harassment
Time to make fully accountable all students that are guilty of bullying/harassing other students at school for any reason.
No more red tape, no verbal warnings after the first day of school- students that are guilty of bullying/harassing other students for any reason should be automatically and immediately suspended from school.
No more red tape, no verbal warnings after the first day of school- students that are guilty of bullying/harassing other students for any reason should be automatically and immediately suspended from school.
Why is this important?
No more red tape, no verbal warnings after the first day of school- more often than not, we've heard all kinds of stories about students being harassed and bullied at school and we've also heard all kinds of stories about school leaders doing absolutely nothing to stop it. Not anymore- it's time to take a real hard-line stance toward bullying and harassment in schools, because bullying and harassment in schools lead to fights and bloodshed, and it also leads to police/sheriff's deputies being called in to defuse the situation. It's time to stop this at it's source by making available forms of formal student complaints outside the principal's office to make a written complaint about a student that is harassing him/her, and that complainant will be required to sign the formal complaint on the spot in the presence of a school administrator. Also, all schools should have a polygraph administrator to test students, who deny their roles in the incidents. The bottom line is, if that student admits to their roles, their suspension will be relatively shorter, but if it's revealed in the polygraph results that the student lied about his/her role in the incident, the student's suspension will be longer. All signed formal student complaints will be treated as disciplinary referrals. Regardless, any student that commits bullying and harassment in school should be suspended. No detention, no Saturday School- IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION FROM SCHOOL. It's time to send a clear-cut message to students that bullying and harassment in school will not be tolerated under any circumstances and since there'll be no verbal warnings after the first day of school, the incident will be met with automatic and immediate suspensions. The same deal will apply to social media- authorities and school administrators will be immediately contacted about incidents of cyber bullying, and in addition to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, also immediate suspension from school, but in the case of cyber bullying, it'll also include a recommendation for expulsion. This would also apply to bullying/harassment incidents at all school bus stops, on the school bus and at all school functions- a student can make a formal complaint and sign it on the spot with a school administrator present and the subject of the complaint faces an immediate suspension for his/her role in the incident. There's absolutely no excuse for and there should be no tolerance at all for any and all forms of bullying and harassment in school and it should be met with suspension. The point is it's about making schools safer for the students and freeing them from the harms of bullying and harassment. It's also about making hard-line examples out of those, that are foolish enough to violate the rights of other students and break the rules. Add to that, a mandatory conference with the parents of the student, who's been suspended for bullying/harassment. It's time to protect the victims of bullying/harassment and make examples out of the violators.