PERRY: Bully for you, even if legislators try and outlaw them this year

As if bullying ends with high school graduation.

As adults, we dismiss bullying by other adults as rude behavior. If you haven’t been subjected to it lately, you just aren’t getting out enough. As a middle-aged loud-mouth, I see my own bullies as odd annoyances at the worst, and often they just amuse me.

I often wonder why some people are so affected by bullying behavior while others shrug it off or call it for what it is. It’s ubiquitous. I see it on the interstates. I see it on the slopes. I see it in parking lots. I see it at state Legislature committee hearings. I see it a lot on our own website. I either laugh, shake my head or flip off the driver who just cut me off.

But for a child or a teenager, bullying takes on a much deeper, significant role. It makes kids miserable. It makes them quit school. It makes them kill themselves. Kids post cruel, hateful things about each other on Facebook. They text heinous messages to each other, telling them they’re fat, ugly, gay, unwanted and hated.

So a lot of well-meaning state lawmakers, led by Democratic Aurora state Rep. Rhonda Fields, decided the time has come to outlaw spite. You see where I’m going with this. Of course you can’t outlaw meanness any more than you can outlaw stupidity. But Fields had the right idea. She figured that since texts and Tumblr posts are so easily traceable and indelible, she’d make it illegal to taunt others in digital form.

Don’t do it. In fact, you can’t do it.

I get angry when I see a kid being bullied. On several occasions, I’ve pulled aside kids on a playground who are cliche in their bullying tactics and maneuvers. And the ultra-sadistic creeps that whisper painful terrors on their smart phones and chat-rooms? Call ‘em out.

The first and worst thing Fields’ law would do is put the government in charge of deciding what’s inconsiderate, what’s inappropriate, what’s hurtful, hateful or horrible.

Consider these recent posts to our website or on Facebook about me and my writing:

“Perry is a drug taking beer guzzling dictator with illusions of godhood,” — Tom Sanders

Smarting comment or a hateful slap?  It get’s better.

“Hey Perry, have you stopped wetting your bed yet?” — JIveAssNi****

The whole world saw that. Is calling someone a bed-wetter intimidating?

“You’re a monster, Perry, and ironically, the very reason many people in this country own guns. To protect themselves from sociopathic, wanna-be tyrants like you. Please do the world a favor and kill yourself.” — JB

“Your (sic) are a spineless piece of crap MR PERRY – I OWN A GUN – COME HERE – I’ll show you how the physics of projectile firing works — stand here this won’t take long … don’t move … “ — Gregg Mcphedrain

“DAVE PERRY, you are a socialist low information voterFAG. You will be dealt with soon enough” — Sean Patriot

“Anybody got dave perry’s home address …. we need to get it out to the criminals …. cuz we all know its a ‘Gun Free’ zone,” — Jack_Kennedy

“Go kill yourself Davey boy … “ — commiebasher

There’s little doubt in my mind these are the types of people who probably cut others off in traffic, throw Taco Bell bags out the car window or just like spouting off with abandon on newspaper websites. Can we — should we — outlaw such rabid remarks?

No.

What mean girls and boys do that prompted Fields’ bill isn’t cyber bullying, it’s outright harassment. And there’s already a law against it. The problem lies in a society that sees the harassment as “kids will be kids” antics. We already have all the tools, laws and power we need to force bullies to stop. But schools need to take it seriously. Parents need to take it seriously. Cops and courts need to take it seriously. We all do. Rather than legislate, we should require schools to regularly tell students, staff and others to report incidents of bullying and harassment, and prosecute them. Since bullying is committed by people who themselves have problems, schools have to be ready to not only act quickly to protect the victim, but to intervene into the underlying issue of child bullies.

There’s already a law. There ought to be a push to enforce it.

Reach Editor Dave Perry at 303-750-7555 or dperry@aurorasentinel.com