SVPA Passes NC Senate! On to the House!

Yesterday afternoon the NC Senate voted 26-22 to pass the School Violence Prevention Act. Sen. Julia Boseman did an amazing job presenting the bill and fending off negative amendments during Wednesday's debate on the bill.

Thanks to Sen. Boseman, the 26 Senators who voted for safer schools, and all of the amazing members of this coalition!

Take Action Now!

The School Violence Prevention Act will be heard on the Senate floor TOMORROW, April 30!

We need your help!

Please take action now to tell your senator to vote for the bill and making schools safer for all students.

Don't wait. Act now.

David's Story

J's Story

I started being bullied in the 6^th grade. I was called a “faggot” on a daily basis from 6^th grade until I graduated High School. Classmates in my gym class used to pull their penises out of their underwear in the locker room, put them in my face, and [say very vulgar things], they would also put their naked buttocks in my face as well. All these things that happened to me on a daily basis made me NOT want to go to school at all!

I was so embarrassed, and scared to tell anyone what was happening to me. I did not even tell my own family and what little friends I had what was happening to me on a daily basis. I would skip school on a regular basis, and was in danger every year of being failed due to missing too many days, before I would skip school I would tell my Mom that I was sick so I didn’t have to go. When that didn’t work anymore I would just skip class/school to avoid the ongoing torment I faced at school. Many teachers heard the comments made to me, but they did nothing, one even laughed with the offenders. I felt there was nowhere for me to turn. Oddly enough I had not come out of the closet to anyone at this point, I was too scared to. I had no knowledge of the life of a gay male in NC, as I had no role models to turn to, and no information available on the subject. I ended up trying to be straight, you can probably figure out how that worked out. I was very unhappy with my life, and contemplated suicide on many occasions while attending school due to the everyday torture I went through.

I hope that this information, as painful for me to write to you, makes a difference for a youth today. If this helps even one child it is worth it to me to share this story with you!

Samantha's Story

Alexander's Story

For me, the bullying got bad starting in grade school. In first grade, I got picked on because I was different and due to the fact that I had mental illness. I was also an easy target. One of the ways this affected me was that I would be very depressed and angry and with my mental illness, this was not helpful. Although the problem was not only within the school building, but also on the bus, there would be older kids waiting to pick on me there. Those same kids would pick on me at the bus stop and in the neighborhood. When I was picked on at the bus stop and the neighborhood, they would sometimes physically bully me.

This bullying continued into second grade. By then, the combination of bullying and mental illness got bad enough that I thought about suicide and how terrible my life was. I developed a habit of looking down at the ground so I would not see the kids bullying me, a habit even now in high school I have trouble with even though I am no longer being bullied. The bullying continued into third grade, although it did improve. I was put in a self-contained class which I started to make friends in and although I was still bullied it had improved a lot. Also, by third grade, I was no longer really depressed. The situation slowly improved over into fifth grade and after that bullying, for me, was no longer one of my bigger problems.

Special thanks to the Disabled Young People's Collective for gathering these stories.

Pamela's Story

My oldest daughter is almost 10 years old and is in the 4th grade. At the end of her second grade year, I picked her up from school one afternoon and almost immediately had to turn around and go back to the school. My daughter asked me what a "faggot" was...because another child in her class called her a "faggot" that day. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew it was a "bad name" because of the way the other child said it...and because several other children had laughed at her when it happened. I walked into my daughter's classroom and spoke with her teacher - who was very nice to me, but basically shrugged her shoulders and said "what can I do?"

At the very least, I felt the child who was name-calling should be told not to use that language any more and that she should apologize to my child. The teacher stated that she would speak with the principal as she wasn't sure how to handle it - she stated she would have him call me. Neither of these things happened - the child did not apologize to my child, the teacher told me later that she never addressed it with the child because "what's the point,"" and the principal never contacted me. Before the end of the year, I wrote a letter to the principal listing several concerns - and I included my concern about the name-calling incident. He did not contact me. However, I did see him in the office and he stated "I got your note." That was it...he got my note.

I later learned from my daughter that that was not the first time she had been called a "faggot" and other names by a small group of children in her class - it seems that it had just been happening more frequently, the teacher had not responded when she want to her for help, and she "just couldn't take it anymore."

That year, her second grade year, was very difficult...she was a very lonely child who hated going to school. In fact, she hated it so much that by the end of the year, she declared that she was never going to college and began to ask if high school was mandatory! I do not think that it was a coincidence - I strongly believe that she was completely demoralized by her peers and the name-calling. I believe that she lost confidence that her teacher could or would help her. I don't think the teacher was a bad person or that she didn't care about my daughter - I think she didn't know what to do.

The experience that my child had should not have happened - and it should not be repeated. Teachers need guidance and support to be able to address this kind of tormenting behavior - and a rule/law that allows for consistency in application of consequences.