Courtney Zotynia was a very loving, young, beautiful, caring, gentle, kindhearted person.  She was taken from her family and friends way too soon.  Why?  Because of relentless, vicious and largely unhindered bullying, she took her own life at the age of 14.

No family should ever have to go through the loss of a child to such a tragedy.  In the memory of Courtney and all those lost, I ask you to help make a difference in signing and sharing this petition.

Bullying needs to have consequences not only for the bullies but for the parents of the accused bully who are aware it is happening and do nothing to correct this damaging and potentially disastrous behavior.  I am of the mindset of where parents are responsible for their child’s actions.  A responsibility that is too easy to write off as “that’s kids” when it comes to bullying.  Of course, nothing will completely stop getting picked on or bullied, that would be asking the impossible.  This petition is asking the powers that be to address shortfalls and provide better tools in a hope to prevent more death.

As taken from Wikipedia, bullying is defined as the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively impose domination over others.  In short, bullying is harassment.  Not only is this happening in schools but with the proliferation of social media it has spread online to Facebook and other sites.  Bullying is also a major contributor to the school shootings in recent history.

First, I’m here to propose an educational program for children, school staff and parents on how to deal with bullies or the victims of bullying and what actions to take using and including already available public services, organizations and explaining current laws in whatever form seems suitable, sufficient and understandable be developed, deployed and maintained on a regular basis by the Department of Education.  Knowing what to do and who to talk to if you’re a victim, teacher, parent or anyone concerned may save a life and is of the utmost importance and priority.

Second, I’d like to propose that a universal set of rules, guidelines and procedures to define the appropriate actions in dealing with harassment in schools be drafted and ask that this be enforced under the laws governing educational standards.  As it stands now, the response varies between school districts and this should not be so.  School staff should be collecting testimony from harassed students along with any physical evidence on potential bullies and collaborating with parents to seek a peaceful and mutual cessation of the harassment.  No accusation of bullying should be immediately written off or ignored.  If this fails, the aggressor is subject to punitive measures delivered by the school district and counseling should be encouraged. 

Third, I propose that if the methods above fail to stop or reduce the harassment that all evidence and testimony collected at the school be released to the court in that school’s district and be admissible as evidence in a civil lawsuit against the aggressor and their parent(s) in a case where the aggressor is a minor at the victim’s and/or victim’s parents discretion while respecting applicable privacy laws.

Finally, I propose that if all other methods fail to stop or reduce the harassment that summary and/or misdemeanor charges may be filed against the aggressor by law enforcement, state or legal guardian of the victim.  I ask that the parents of the aggressor be subject to investigation for child abuse under current law.  Court ordered professional counseling, for the aggressor and the parents of, at the presiding judge’s discretion.  If a suicide is involved, I also ask that misdemeanor and/or felony charges be strongly considered if applicable.

Thank You for Your Support,
Diana L Everitt