Ohio is facing a bullying epidemic in our schools. In recent national news, Ohio schools have been showcased as having a hostile and dangerous environment for our children. In Washington Court House, a special needs student was bullied by her own teachers. Caught on tape, a teacher and her aide called the student "dumb" and ridiculed her personal appearance.
In another horrifying incident from late October, a student in the Union-Scioto Local School District was beaten in his high school class room for being gay; the attack was videotaped as other students stood by and did nothing. These two incidents, among others from previous years, demonstrate that Ohio schools are not keeping our children safe.
Our schools have a responsibility, legal and ethical, to provide a safe education to our children. They are failing, and we are letting them. Ohio House Bill 208 (HB 208) would help to change that by adding sexual orientation, gender identity, and other enumerated protections to Ohio's anti-bullying law without changing the general prohibition against any bullying or harassment. HB 208 is pending in the House Education Committee, but Chairman Gerald Stebelton has refused to schedule testimony on the bill.
Show the world these are not Ohio's values!
Ask Chairman Stebelton to schedule testimony on HB 208!
