For too many kids in Maryland and all across the country, our classrooms, neighborhoods and homes aren’t places where they feel safe, cherished and respected. Children are especially vulnerable to the feelings of hopelessness and despair that bullying can cause, and many children feel like there’s no end in sight to harassment.
That’s why I partnered with seven other members of Team Maryland to reach out to young people in our state and share with them a simple but powerful message: It gets better.
This video was produced in support of the It Gets Better Project ,which was founded last year after a series of tragic suicides by LGBT youth who were bullied because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Through a series of videos—more than 10,000 that have been viewed more than 35 million times—the It Gets Better Project helps youth see that a brighter future awaits them beyond adolescence and that it really will get better.
While it’s important to tell our children that it gets better, it’s even more important that we act to make it better. That’s why many of us have co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would help make our children’s schools safer, and other legislation that celebrates and protects the rich diversity of our nation.
There’s no place for bullying or discrimination anywhere in America, and it’s up to each and every one of us to make sure that no one has to hide who they really are.
Watch the "It Gets Better" video here.
Joining Senator Cardin in the Maryland Delegation’s “It Gets Better Video” are U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Representatives Steny Hoyer, Chris Van Hollen, Donna Edwards, John Sarbanes,Dutch Ruppersberger and Elijah Cummings (all D-MD).
It's appalling how the burden of dealing with real bullying issues is placed squarely on the shoulders of the child BEING bullied. "Move away, Ignore, Tell someone, Report" is what the victims are repeatedly told—thus placing the burden on them, instead of the person doing wrong. Punishment for bullying it's a joke. Going to the office for the day=getting to skip class & "color or talk to everyone that comes in" or "missing recess and staying in the office" please, it's a repeat of the above. The process for the victims parents is nothing but a dance in frustration, with road blocks thrown up at every, single turn. Nothing can be discussed due to "privacy of the bully" (well, IMO - that was tossed when they bullied), reporting is useless because if you don't have the proper form for documentation (MCPS Form 230-35, which you only see once - at the beginning of the year) it's dealt with by the Principal (not MCPS main office) - all the while we are forced to watch our child struggle daily, going back to school to once again be victimized.
Based on that, I'm inclined to believe that there are systemic problems like this that probably still pervade the system.