The small city of Shawano, Wisconsin passed a local ordinance this month that states parents will be fined if their child is exhibiting bullying behavior in school or elsewhere. It is the first such law to recognize a parents responsibility in the serious matter of bullying.
According to the declaration ordinance, parents will be immediately notified by authorities regarding the bullying behavior of their child and they will have 90 to deal with it. If, after 90 days, the child remains a bully, the parents will receive a $366 fine. The second offense is a $700 fine.
Shawano’s police chief, Mark Kohl, said, “It is specifically a bullying ordinance and a harassment ordinance that prohibits that kind of behavior.”
While authorities and police will not be micromanaging the situation, they will be targeting specific behavior that is affecting the victim in both the short and long term. The ordinance is extremely specific and it lays out definitions for what constitutes the behavior of a bully. The definition states that bullying behavior is one that threatens and intimidates as well as behavior that is abusive emotionally or is outright slander. For Shawano, bullying can be physical, verbal, or written.
The police will not interfere with the school authorities unless called in to do so. The police will deal with bullying outside of the schools in the community at large. Police Chief Kohl has said that the response to the ordinance has received tremendous attention all over the country and further stated that the reaction from people has largely been one of support for the measure.
While it still remains unclear how effective this ordinance will be, it is yet to be determined, also, that there may not be anything a parent can actually do to deter the child’s behavior. While many psychologists believe that bullying should take the form of preventative measures, many believe that the Wisconsin ordinance will, at least, make parents aware of their child’s bullying behavior. Often, a parent isn’t even aware of it.
PHOTO SOURCE: Paul Garaizar (Unsplash.com)