Bully to Them

City Council, in another bold move last week, passed what they're calling the Dignity for All Students Act—a long-promised anti-bias, anti-bullying law designed to protect students from having to deal with some of life's unpleasant realities. It's also designed to protect those students who snitch on other students from any schoolyard payback.

First of all, what's with that awful, deceptive name? Dignity for All Students? We think they'd be better off to call a spade a spade, and rename it the Big Sissy Crybaby Snitch Act of 2004.

Name aside, when you get right down to it, the law doesn't mean much of anything. City Council passed it in principle alone, without any detailed instructions as to how to go about doing these things. It's now up to the Dept. of Education to figure it out.

Maybe City Council knew how doomed the idea was from the start, and are washing their hands of it immediately. Legislating bullies and name-calling out of existence? Not likely. Looks good in print, so maybe the DOE can take the heat down the road when nothing improves.