In Shawano, Wisconsin there’s a new law that takes aim not just at bullies, but the parents of bullies.
They believe the parents should be held accountable for their child’s behavior and if the child is engaged in bullying activity, the parents will have to pay up monetarily. The city council passed the new regulation which implements a fine of $366. That’s for the first offence if their child is caught bullying other students. The second offence within one year, and the fine goes up to $681.
There’s a lot of debate with this new ruling. Parents being punished for the actions of their child is questionable on how it will make kids behave better in school, as many other factors can come into play.
There may be underlying mental conditions or at least issues where therapy and counseling need to be implemented, not just money. And the bad behavior may not be a result of bad parenting, but bad influences from other kids or other adults.
Nevertheless, it could be the driving force that makes parents deal more strongly with their kid’s bullying issues, and take faster action to get the child help or take away privileges from them. Check out the debate on this issue and share with friends and family to see what they think about this.
