And, Then There's Tennessee

Some of you may have already seen this article posted on the facebook blog page or elsewhere on the Internet.  According to Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison, teen suicides are due to bad parenting.  I can't make this stuff up.

We can’t continue to legislate everything and we’ve had some horrible things happen in America and in our state, and there’s children that have actually committed suicide, but I will submit to you today that they did not commit suicide because of somebody bullying them. They committed suicide because they were not instilled the proper principles of where their self-esteem came from at home.

I don't even know where to begin.

Let me make sure I've got this right:

1. Bullied teens who commit suicide have their parents to blame.
2. It's more important to protect the bullies than it is to protect the victims of it.

Ok, if a middle- or high school student takes a weapon to school, a gun or a knife or whatever, and attacks another student, is that a criminal act?  Yes.  It's called assault.  In Maryland, it would be called assault with a deadly weapon, with the possibility of the added charge of assault with the intent to maim.  Either, or both, charges would certainly then make the perpetrator a "criminal", and they would be facing significant time.  If a middle- or high school student takes a  weapon to school, gun or knife or whatever, and kills another student, is that a criminal act?  Of course it is.  It's called murder.  So, how is it that if that same middle- or high school student bullies another student, be it verbally or physically (and, always emotionally), so badly and so relentlessly that the bullied teen resorts to ending his or her life, they should be absolved of any wrong doing?  Explain to me so that I can fully understand just how does sending these kids to the Principal's office for detention is going to solve anything?  A child is dead because of his/her actions!  That makes THEM responsible!  Jacob Rogers is gone because of bullies.  Phillip Parker is gone because of bullies.  And, Jeremy Faison wants to send their bullies to detention.  He doesn't want them to become criminals.  I won't mention the fact that they've already committed criminal acts.  And, when it comes to the targeted bullying of LGBT teens, just as it is with bullying based upon race, the potential is there for it to be a hate crime.

That Mr. Faison could even dream of blaming the parents of the suicide victims is beyond reprehension.  What he did with his statement was kick these families, who are already reeling from the untimely and unnecessary death of their beloved young child, right in the gut.  Worse, he's now on record as saying that, in his misguided opinion, it's more important to protect who cause death by their actions of hatred and intolerance than it is provide protection for those who are suffering.  

If there's any "failure" to be "good parents", wouldn't it make sense that it would be the parents of those who find it necessary to demean, verbally and sometimes physically batter others to the point where they feel suicide is the only remaining option for them to make the bullying stop?  The obvious ones with self-esteem issues are the ones who feel the need to put others down in order to make themselves feel good. (and, yes, that is a problem that needs to be addressed if we're to tackle this issue of bullying/teen suicide)  To a further extent, where are these young people learning to hate and be so intolerant at such an early age.  They weren't born that way.  Hatred and intolerance is taught and, in most cases, it starts at home.  Good parenting?  

I've pointed out before, several times actually, that these lawmakers were elected into office.  The question has to be "how"?  To a further extent, the larger question, in my opinion, should be "how are they staying in office"?  And, to show a little equity to Jeremy Faison, he's not the only problem in the Tennessee legislation.  There is still a push to pass a bill that would make it illegal for teachers to even say the very word "gay" in their classrooms.  They are also one of the states that wants to make it legal for LGBT teens to be bullied as long as it was because of the bully's religious, political, or philosophical beliefs.  There's a definite problem with bias and intolerance in Tennessee's legislation, and it's costing lives.  Worse, there are those in the Tennessee legislation who seem to be perfectly okay with that.  In fact, they now have one legislator on record as saying that he wants to protect the bullies.  

Power in numbers?  Politicians are "hired" by virtue of our votes.  As such, they can be "fired" by virtue of our votes.  This isn't about politics.  Enough is Enough isn't a political blog.  This is about stopping the madness of bullying and teen suicides.  And, in particular, LGBT teen suicides.  Having paid, elected officials introduce laws that goes against preventing bullying and, especially, teen suicides only assures that we're going to continue seeing the spike in bullying, teen suicides, and especially LGBT teen suicides.  After all, strip away all of their smoke and filters, and what they're really saying is that they're homophobic and don't really care about what's happening to our LGBT youth.  That is unacceptable.