Locals look at anti-bullying bill

Shylo Main, a Havre resident, said that her son, Hunter Strait, committed suicide in 2010 due to bullying.

Strait was 14-years-old at the time and was an eighth-grader at Hays-Lodge Pole Middle School.

“He was a great kid, always smiling — always happy,” she said.

Main said that she did not find out until a year or two later exactly what had happened.

“The week before (he committed suicide), he was suspended from school because he walked out of class,” she said. “Apparently during class there were a group of boys that were spitting spit wads at him and the teacher didn’t do anything about it — so he got up and walked out of class, trying to avoid the situation.”

Strait committed suicide the Monday he was supposed to go back to school.

A bill introduced in the Montana Legislature hopes to prevent a recurrence of such tragedies.

According to The Associated Press, officials discussed the proposed bill, introduced by Rep. Kimberly Dudik, a Missoula Democrat, in the House Education Committee Wednesday.

This measure would require officials to define bullying, prohibit it in public schools and require public school districts to adopt their own policies addressing the issue.

Dudik said the measure would explicitly define bullying as any repeated harassment, hazing or threatening online or in person.

She also said that it would carry the force of law, meaning parents and local authorities could go after schools and education officials who do not comply.

Main said that she supports the proposed anti-bullying law.

“They need to enforce that there’s no bullying allowed,” she said. “They need to protect the kids … They’re supposed to be in school. They’re supposed to be safe. Somebody has to speak up for them.”

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Andy Carlson said bullying is a problem everywhere.

“The outside abilities for individuals to participate in this type of activity are numerous,” he said. “Nowadays, people can go and they can put stuff anonymously about people and never own anything of what they’re saying.”

Carlson said he understands the intent of the proposed law.

“I wish that we could legislate decency in how to treat people right,” he said. “How do you not support an effort to prohibit bullying? … But again I go back to, ‘How do you legislate people treating other people decently?’ If you could do that, that would be wonderful. There’s so many aspects to a topic like bullying, that I’m not sure how you write legislation to address it.”

Carlson added that there are resources available within the Havre Public School district for those who feel they are being bullied, such as counseling and intervention.

“Nobody wants to see a child in a situation where they don’t want to come to school because they are being targeted or harassed endlessly,” he said. “At the same time, it’s a partnership. There has to be help at home also.”

Jay Eslick, superintendent of Chinook School District, said bullying takes many different forms, including physical, verbal and mental harassment.

“Bullying is the process of having power over another individual in some fashion or some way,” he said. “If you feel a student is a bully, you have to modify that behavior and make them realize different ways to behave.”

Eslick added that he does not have an opinion concerning this proposed bill.

“I don’t see that it’s going to change anything that we are currently doing,” he said. “In fact, I think the language is very similar to what we already have in policy.”

The committee did not take action on the measure, which faces several legislative hurdles before it could become law.

Montana is the only state in the nation that has not addressed the matter with legislation.

Dudik said she is not sure whether it has enough support to pass.