Guidelines to help schools stop bullying, keep free speech
WASHINGTON — At a press conference on May 22, a coalition of 17 education, religious and civil liberties groups will release new guidelines aimed at helping public schools uphold the First Amendment while combating harassment and bullying.
The press event will take place at 10 a.m. in the Zenger Room at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Speakers at the May 22 press conference will include Marc Stern, American Jewish Committee; Charles Haynes, Religious Freedom Education Project; Francisco Negron, National School Boards Association; Kim Colby, Christian Legal Society; and Hoda Elshishtawy, Muslim Public Affairs Council.
“Harassment, Bullying and Free Expression: Guidelines for Free and Safe Public Schools” was organized by the American Jewish Committee and the Religious Freedom Education Project and endorsed by American Association of School Administrators; ASCD; Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School; Christian Educators Association International; Christian Legal Society; Hindu American Foundation; Islamic Networks Group and its affiliates; Islamic Society of North America; Muslim Public Affairs Council; National Association of Evangelicals; National Association of State Boards of Education; National Council for the Social Studies; National School Boards Association; Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism; and Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
According to the guidelines, students should be able to attend public schools where they are free to share their views and engage in discussions about religious and political differences while simultaneously attending safe schools that prohibit discrimination, bullying and harassment.
“While these principles are compatible in most instances, sometimes they collide,” says Marc Stern of the American Jewish Committee. “The guidelines are aimed at helping school officials balance the need for school safety with the need for free expression.”
National School Boards Association General Counsel Francisco Negron Jr. believes the guidance document will help public school officials navigate a murky area of the law.
“This guidance document, the product of months of collaboration among national organizations, should help public school officials balance the First Amendment rights of students and the student safety concerns associated with peer bullying and harassment. We hope that public schools will rely on it as they make on-the-ground decisions in this area. Public schools can be a shining example of a forum in which constitutional rights are respected and cherished, and where individual dignity and safety is guarded.”
American Jewish Committee, established in 1906 by a small group of American Jews deeply concerned about pogroms aimed at Russian Jews, determined that the best way to protect Jewish populations in danger would be to work toward a world in which all peoples were accorded respect and dignity. Over 100 years later, AJC continues its efforts to promote pluralistic and democratic societies where all minorities are protected. AJC is an international think-tank and advocacy organization that attempts to identify trends and problems early – and take action.
Religious Education Freedom Project educates the public about the vital importance of religious freedom through events, educational programs and outreach. The project is an initiative of the First Amendment Center, a program of the Freedom Forum, and affiliated with the Newseum. The First Amendment Center’s nonpartisan work supports the First Amendment and builds understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment. The center does not lobby, litigate or provide legal advice.
Media contacts:
Charles Haynes, Religious Freedom Education Project
571/232-6536
chaynes@freedomforum.org
Marc Stern, American Jewish Committee
212/891-1480
sternm@ajc.org
Tags: bullying, public schools, student speech
2 Responses to “Guidelines to help schools stop bullying, keep free speech”
The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
What are you stupid? You can not have FREE SPEECH when you restrict the right of people to speak their minds. The US Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have no right to be free from abusive language or ridicule.
When kids stick people in lockers, in trash cans, when they knock them down, touch them inappropriately, give them wedgies, push their heads into toilets. These are NOT acts of bullying, these are acts of assault and battery and we already have laws on Assault.
Students being called nerds, gay, four eyes, religious insults, racial insults, fat, ugly may be hurtful to them, but they need to learn that life isn’t fair and that when they are adults, they will have to be able to deal with coworkers, bosses, neighbors, or people at a bar who may have different values than you do and you have to be able to act like an American and allow them to speak their hatred and NOT to let it effect how you see yourself.
These IDIOTS who want protection from everything by their parents and the nanny state government don’t care about the right of Freedom of Speech of the rest of America, as long as they don’t have to hear someone insult them for being different.
whale
I don’t care what anyone else thinks about this law being stupid or irrelevant. I’ve been bullied and I completely agree that people need to stop this. I’ve had friends with failed suicide attempts and some people just don’t see until it’s right in front of their faces: we need to stop this. The people having to hear EVERY SINGLE DAY people call them “fatass” or “that dumb skanky whore” need to have some protection like this. Because holding your head high and turning the other cheek only goes so far. And we need to see that before people die in front of our very eyes, and all we can think of is “why. why didn’t I say something, stand up?” And you won’t realize it until your best friend is dead.