Is the Anti-Bullying movement hurting kids? (+ video)

Below is a statement issued by the ACLU, emphasizing the limits of political activism during instructional time:

“You DO have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day.

“You do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time if a teacher asks you to speak.”

The Day of Silence is part of the anti-bulling campaign sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The day of silence this year it will take place in some Florida public schools on April 19, 2013.

According to Florida Family Association, “On April 19th, thousands of public high schools and increasing numbers of middle schools will allow students to remain silent throughout an entire day – even during instructional time – to promote GLSEN’s socio-political goals and its controversial, unproven, and destructive theories on the nature and morality of homosexuality.”

But are anti-bullying campaigns like the day of silence doing more harm than good?

Susan Porter, author of Bully Nation: Why America’s Approach to Childhood Aggression is Bad for Everyone believes so. Porter sat down with Reason TV’s Tracy Oppenheimer to discuss the anti-bully movement and how laws, labeling and the media are only agitating the problem. She says that kids are actually suffering because of these anti-bully efforts.

“They are becoming less resilient,” says Porter, “if you’re now a victim, and you think of yourself as a victim, you are much more apt to get victimized.”

Watch this six minute video interview with Susan Porter:

A group of over thirty organizations is asking parents to walk out with their children on the day of silence. The groups created a website Walk Out DOS. According to the website, “Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes… Help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child’s school allows students and/or teachers to refuse to speak during instructional time on the Day of Silence.”

The Washington Blade reports, “Lambda Legal on Tuesday [February 26, 2013] filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a lesbian teenager who said school officials punished her for taking part in an anti-LGBT bullying event. Amber Hatcher, 16, planned to observe the National Day of Silence last April. DeSoto County High School Principal Shannon Fusco and DeSoto County School Superintendent Adrian Cline reportedly discouraged her from taking part in the annual event.”

The Pacific Justice Institute has launched a new website designed to counter two legislative bills that threaten the existence of the Boy Scouts in California and would mandate some of the most aggressive invasions of privacy, freedom of association and religious freedom ever proposed in the name of LGBT rights. In in a 5-2 vote, the California Senate Governance and Finance Committee passed SB 323—a bill aimed at forcing the Boy Scouts and other youth organizations to embrace homosexuality and “gender identity.” The bill now heads to the Senate where it is one-step closer to becoming law.

The new site, GenderInsanity.com, spotlights the two bills pending in the California legislature. Senate Bill (SB) 323 threatens to revoke tax exemptions from the Boy Scouts and many other non-profits, including religious schools and Little League that do not affirm transgender or homosexual lifestyles.