Last week, a school in the Midd-West School District in Middleburg, Pennsylvania held an anti-bullying assembly. But as several students commented in a local publication, the assembly was laughed off and students made jokes about bullying.

That night, a 14-year-old student in the district, who was the target of anti-gay bullying, committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a tractor-trailer.

Anti-bullying programs are commendable, and schools should be doing everything they can to make sure bullying is addressed in curriculum. But if students can just laugh off these events as frivolous, and go unpunished for their bullying, then assemblies just won't do the trick to curb violence.

Meanwhile, the Midd-West School District does not have any information on their Web site that discusses bullying or bullying prevention. This needs to change.

Send a message to the Superintendent of the Midd-West School District, letting them know that bullying programs deserve to have impact and teeth. All too many students feel unsafe at school because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or more. That tide needs to change, and it needs to start with proactive policies in school districts that take bullying very seriously.