Louisiana House Bill 112, billed as the "Safe Schools Act," failed this week and was defeated in the Louisiana legislature. The current anti-bullying law in Louisiana seeks to prevent harassment, intimidation and bullying, but Representative Austin Badon proposed changes to the law that would increase protection from non-physical forms of intimidation.
Watching House Bill 112 fail in Louisiana was really disappointing - clearly there is a need in the United States to protect our children from bullying. Unfortunately, protecting kids from bullying often becomes a political issue. We need to focus on Happy Kids and Safe Schools.
In Louisiana, supporters of HB 112 proposed specific protection for GLBT students, and in the process of making that suggestion, the focus on safe schools seemed to have gotten lost in the political debate. No matter where you stand on many of these issues, we need to agree on a simple point: all students deserve to be happy and safe and school, and all students should expect to be treated with dignity and respect. If this proposal would have saved a single life it would have been worth putting on the books in Louisiana.
I am hopeful that parents and students in Louisiana continue to take a stand and push their representatives to create improvements in the laws that protect kids at school. Contacting your representative is normally as easy as going to the state government website and following the links for contact info. If you need help finding contact info for your rep in Indiana you can get in touch with me for help.
I will be a contestant at the 2011 Miss Indiana Pageant in June, and while I'm there I hope I get a chance to tell the judges about my Happy Kids Safe Schools platform. No matter what happens in the interview room or during pageant week, I will continue to push for better laws to protect kids from bullying.
Meet the 2011 Miss Indiana contestants by visiting www.missindianapageant.com and don't forget to make a contribution to my fundraising goal for Children's Miracle Network by the end of May by searching for me at www.missamerica4kids.org
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