During yesterday's House Education Subcommittee discussion of HB927, a great anti-bullying bill that was sent to the State Department of Education for study, Rep. Roger Kane made some of the most tone deaf comments about bullying imaginable. In the discussion of bullied students, he said, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger."
Well, Representative Kane, I guess you haven't heard that bullying does kill, specifically in Tennessee. The cases of Jacob Rogers and Phillip Parker are well known throughout the country. "Rep. Kane's cavalier comments are deeply disturbing coming from a public official responsible for shaping school safety policies in Tennessee," said Jonathan Cole with the Tennessee Equality Project. "He's essentially saying that bullying is good for you because it toughens you up. Rep. Kane sends a terrible message to those Tennesseans who have forever lost a friend, a student, a son, or a daughter."
A person with Rep. Kane's lack of awareness and empathy has no place in the Legislature and certainly not on the House Education Subcommittee and full Committee.
Please, call Speaker of the House Beth Harwell at (615) 741-0709 or email her at speaker.beth.harwell@capitol.tn.gov and urge her to remove Rep. Kane from the House Education Committee.
Dear Rep. Kane,
ReplyDeleteI am not a hateful person. Nor am I a bully. But after listening to you speak, I could let my human side say a lot of assuming things about you and judgments on you that really would make you one strong SOB... Any Negative personal attack on someones caricature, personality or anything really that is hurtful or could come across as an insult joking or not is just plain wrong. I do not care what you feel as far as your personality is. Hate is hate and wrong is wrong. When you are downing someone for any reason or picking out someones differences and hurting that person that should be criminal because it is abusive and that is bullying. Yes we are all different that is what makes us special but it is the same thing that makes us the same as humans. No one has that right to dehumanize someone no matter what their belief is or personal feelings are towards that other person.