Serving on the Judiciary Committee in the Maine Legislature, I hear terrible cases of basic human rights being violated by another person. I often reflect on where we, as a culture, learn that this behavior is acceptable. The answer, unfortunately, is as close as our local schools.

Our teachers and administrators are trying. Student-teacher classroom ratios prove that our faculty can’t be everywhere at once or know everything that’s going on. But the warning signs are there, and we need to open our eyes to the terror many of our students experience from bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment. These behaviors on a student-to-student level account for hundreds of school absences per year.

Beyond the simple emotional and physical well-being of our children, there is a greater legal issue at work, which compels parents, teachers, school boards, and my fellow lawmakers and I to do more for our students.

Federal court rulings say that schools need to protect our kids from student-to-student harassment, particularly sexual harassment, or be held financially liable. There is currently nothing in Maine law that requires schools to address these behaviors, and few tools are available to school districts to combat the problem. Most schools do have some type of policy, but there is no universal approach to describing what constitutes bullying nor the consequences for the behavior. All of that may be about to change.

Prior to April vacation, the Education Committee voted unanimously to support an amended bill that would require schools to have policies on bullying, harassment and sexual harassment.

Now, it’s not enough to just have the policies, but schools also have to know what to do with them. Rep. Carol Grose of Woolwich, the bill’s sponsor, worked with a subcommittee of the Maine Children’s Cabinet, a group of educators, parents, and child advocates, to develop her original concept into something that will really work for Maine schools.

If the bill is passed, this same subcommittee will develop model policies for all the schools in the state, as well as a variety of training modules for teachers and students. These individuals are donating their time, efforts, and materials, and the initiative will not cost the state any money. It isn’t a mandate on schools either, because they’ll still have the freedom to decide what works best for their students and teachers, just with the advantage of well-researched guidance.

Besides the Education Committee, the bill also has the support of the Maine School Management Association and the Maine Education Association. I plan to vote in favor of the measure when it comes before the Legislature, because I believe this is a serious problem for our state. Throughout this session, we’ve been consumed by the dollars and cents we put into our schools, but this bill encourages us to think about the climate of our schools as well.

Our schools are much different places today than when I was growing up. Now, our students are even bullied via e-mail and instant messages. Being bullied or teased by classmates is no longer just a rite of passage; it’s a way of life for many of our kids.

Seventeen other states have already passed similar laws. It’s time that Maine starts looking closely at the lessons our students learn outside of the core subjects, and thought a little more about the type of people they’ll become. No child should fear going to school, and while a new law won’t fix the problem overnight, acknowledging that we have a problem will help, not just for the school climate of today, but for the adults of tomorrow.

I may be contacted for more information by Phone at 892-6591, at repmarkbryant@yahoo.com, or through my legislative Web page, www.mainehousedems.org/mbryant.