Every school in Texas is required to have an anti-bullying committee and some may have had an effect, but the overall problem still remains. 

The anti-bullying committee should petition for harsher punishments for bullying and repercussions for staff who do not act when they see bullying.  

The committee has stalled some bullying because it has brought more attention to the issue, but there needs to be more punishment, and people like bus staff should enforce the rules consistently. Bullying is still occurring on the buses and the bus drivers and monitors do not always control it. Unfortunately, students can take out their phones and take pictures during an incident. Then these students post it on their social media. This is obviously an invasion of these people’s privacy and nothing is being done about it. The bus drivers and monitors should have more training about what to do in this situation specifically. Bullies trick adults by claiming their victim is their friend and that they’re just joking. This is gross and the bus drivers and monitors should be informed to catch this.

Another issue is what happens in boys’ locker rooms. People who are gay are not treated well in the locker rooms due to their sexuality. This more private location provides an opportunity for bullies to get away with calling people slurs and negatively stereotyping them. When this has been reported, coaches do little to nothing about it. A “stern talking to” is not enough when a student has reported bullying throughout an entire sport’s season. The coaches should make sure their athletes are ok because if athletes have bad mental health it will affect the team’s performance. Athletes should feel safe in the sport they choose. For some people that sport is who they are as a person, and they don’t want bullies to prevent them from participating. 

Bus drivers, teachers and coaches have a duty to protect their students from harm. Bullying is harmful to people’s mental health. The United Educators Association said that 42% of kids who are bullied online commit suicide, and 1 in 4 kids who are verbally bullied will also commit suicide. Giving bullies two strikes is not stopping the problem and the school should take action. The new committee should petition for harsher punishments. The committee is shown to have an effect and thus should use that power to make sure bullies have harsher punishments.