Matt's Law was brought because Matt Epling, committed suicide because he was tormented and bullied in school and did not receive the help and support he should have gotten from school officials. This new law allows harassment from students (as well as teachers) as long as the victim’s actions violate a “sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction.”

This is outrageous! Schools are supposed to protect our children, not allow for others to hurt them!

Michigan's state board of education's anti-bullying law "recommends that all schools should develop a plan designed to prevent and react to bullying and adopt an anti-bullying program to promote a positive school atmosphere. Such programs should address the supervision of students, the encouragement of student involvement in the program by asking and listening to them, educating teachers and staff about bullying effect on students, training teachers and staff how to intervene when bullying occurs, providing individualized interventions, and meaningful communication between teachers and parents. The State Board of Education has created a Model Anti-Bullying Policy for local boards of education to follow when developing their own anti-bullying plan." - Michigan's hazing law says "Michigan Penal Code 750.411t (2004) states that a person who attends, is employed by, or is a volunteer of an educational institution shall not engage in or participate in the hazing of an individual. Punishment based on the severity of the hazing incident is laid out, as well as what actions are defined as hazing."

There is currently no Michigan state policy on cyberbullying issues.

How is Governor Rick Snyder following these policies by allowing students to bully and harass other students just because it may be in their "religious beliefs or moral convictions?" The message he is sending to the perpetrators of bullying is that it's ok to hurt others as long as you feel justified in doing so. The message he is sending out to the victims of such behavior is that no one cares how they feel.

The statistics of bullying and the effects are staggering.

1. 1 out of 4 kids are bullied every month in the US.
2. 160,000 kids miss school every day of fear of bullying
3. 1 in 10 drops out of school due to repetitive bullying
4. Nearly 9 in 10 LGBT students have been bullied about their sexuality in the last year
5. Every half hour a child will commit bullycide. Nineteen thousand of them resort to this because of the ridicule and suffering they experience every day at school.

Does the governor still think this is ok??

As a parent and an educator, I urge you to sign this petition and ask Governor Rick Snyder to change this law. Matt's Law should be about the protection of students, not the justification of bullying them. Matt certainly was not protected, and because of that he is no longer with us.

Together we must make a stand to stop bullying. We must be Pro-active, and not reactive. Too many people have committed suicide and this needs to be stopped now

This petition has been created by the owner/administrator of the Facebook Community, "Standing Up For Victims of Bullies (Child or Adult)" - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Standing-Up-For-Victims-of-Bullies-Child-or-Adult/177805808916667

Please sign this petition and help Matt's family and other families get the support they desperately need and deserve.

Thank you.

~Amy Hewitt Bonin~
(Creator of "Standing Up For Victims of Bullies - Child or Adult")