By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
August 7, 2013

“It is a real issue that continues to occur and no one deserves to be bullied,” said Jermaine Reed, member of the city’s Public Safety and Emergency Services Committee. “It’s something that has to be tackled.”

That’s exactly what the city of Kansas City is doing through its newly passed ordinance which prohibits the bullying of a minor or allowing a minor to bully or cyber-bully another minor. Multiple groups testified in favor of the new ordinance during the July 31 committee meeting, and the Kansas City City Council unanimously approved the ordinance Aug. 1.

City Council member Scott Taylor spearheaded the ordinance, which holds parents and guardians accountable for the actions of minors. Upon conviction of a violation, the parent or guardian will be subject to a fine up to $1,000 including court fees. In lieu of a fine, an anti-bullying diversion program will be available.

“When we get parents involved, we get results,” Taylor said.

Reed quoted several statistics regarding cyber-bullying during the committee meeting, including that nearly 43 percent of students have been bullied online and 70 percent of students have witnessed frequent bullying online.

The city of Kansas City includes 14 school districts and while each of those school districts has policies in place regarding bullying, those policies only reach as far as school grounds, Taylor said.

“What we’re doing (as a city) is providing additional coverage,” Taylor said. “Where a lot of bullying occurs, there’s no basic coverage.”

A representative with the Kansas City Police Department cited the example of the Ruskin middle and high schools which have implemented excellent programs and policies regarding bullying, but those policies only reach so far. Nearby parks continue to be a breeding ground for fights among minors, the KCPD representative said.

“We know a quarter of public school kids are bullied on a daily or weekly basis,” said Stacey Daniels-Young, director of Jackson County COMBAT. “We think of it as a right of passage, but we need to change that expectation. Now that we have cyber-bullying, it’s easier to reach out and touch people many miles away or sometimes people you haven’t even met…”

Michael Sean Houlihan, a disability rights advocate with The Whole Person, said he suffered the effects of bullying in high school. It only took one person to enact the damage, he said. As a teen who already struggled with anxiety and depression, the bully who taunted him and called him derogatory names for being gay was adding fuel to the fire, he said.

“I have a couple of failed suicide attempts under my belt and a pretty nasty go around with substance abuse to make those uncomfortable feelings go away,” Houlihan said. “Everyone needs to be on board that it’s (bullying) unnecessary, it’s not tolerable and it’s easy to fix. We just have to get some awareness out there. The bully is actually someone who was bullied themselves. It’s a cycle, it’s ongoing.”

Letiah Fraser, a youth advocate with The Whole Person in the mental health department, said she’s encountered a number of youth who have contemplated suicide or attempted suicide as a result of looking different, talking different or walking different, she said.

Sheila Styron, public policy specialist with The Whole Person, said she commends the city for taking a stand against bullying.

“I’m really proud of the city for taking this step to initiate the conversation,” Styron said, “and sending a strong message that will raise awareness and hopefully address this problem more globally than we’ve dealt with it in the past.”