California City Achieves New Lows In Anti-Bullying Laws, Makes Public Entirely Subject To Other People’s ‘Feelings

Tech Dirt – by Tim Cushing

“Fixing” bullying through rushedstupidreactionary laws does nothing to address the issue and generally just makes things worse. Carson, CA, Mayor Jim Dear thinks he’s going to beat bullying and he’s going to use a new law to do it. His plan is a real gem, though, requiring only a one-paragraph summary to encompass its utter vapidity. (via Adam Steinbaugh)  

Under an ordinance that will go before the City Council next week, it would become a misdemeanor in the small Harbor-area city to cause anyone from kindergarten through age 25 to “feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed or molested” with no legitimate purpose.

1. This wording suggests there are legitimate reasons to “terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass or molest” people aged 5-25. Sadly, the mayor fails to provide examples. 

2. Thicker skin is apparently grafted on at age 25, at which point people can expect to be terrorized, threatened, etc. right up to the limits of existing laws. The subtext here is that people are expected to “grow up” and deal with bullying better at some point in their lives. That arbitrary point appears to be four years past the legal drinking age. 

3. This bill is entirely subjective — the key word being “feel.” No one is allowed to make anyone “feel” any of the above forbidden feelings. As presented here, there’s no “reasonable person” subjectivity bar, which makes everyone in Carson subject to everyone else’s feelings. 

This bill also covers “cyberbullying,” which is incredibly redundant considering all of the feelings listed above. But it goes beyond simple redundancy, offering additional actionable feelings specific to electronic communications.

It cites “hurtful, rude and mean text messages” as a key form of cyberbullying, along with “spreading rumors or lies about others by email or social networks.

“Hurtful?” “Rude?” “Mean?” Have you not met children, Mayor Dear? They can be all of these things without being bullies, simply because their sense of perspective has yet to mature. The most amazing things fall out of kids’ mouths. Some grow brain-mouth filters as they mature. Others don’t. But most start out without a knowledge of societal norms — the unspoken agreement that specifies that you don’t point out what’s different or strange or funny about someone else to their face. But to Dear, these childish statements may be treated as misdemeanors. 

For additional unintentional hilarity, here’s a statement from the bill’s co-sponsor.

Councilman Mike Gipson, a co-author of the measure, said the goal was to make Carson a “bully-free city.”

Gipson’s idealism would be admirable if it weren’t completely indiscernible from the sort of thing politicians who have long since kissed their ideals goodbye would make. It’s a promise that can’t be kept, stated as a lofty goal towards which the city will e’er strive, even if it means criminalizing protected speech and non-criminal behavior. If this effort fails (and it will, at one level or another), the goalposts can always be moved, or the definitions changed, so that Carson, CA is constantly approaching the “bully-free” ideal. 

The problem with unquantifiable goals is that someone will want to quantify it, if only to justify the arrest and booking of schoolchildren. And when you make certain activities the target, thatwill be what’s counted. The more “bullies” it prosecutes, the closer it must be to achieving Gipson’s and Dear’s utopian goal. This provides twisted incentives for law enforcement and prosecutors, both of whom are now involved in a problem that used to be solved by parents and schools. Good work if you can get it — especially if you’ve got a crusade on your mind — but it’s hardly a solution to a societal problem. 

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140504/10493227122/california-city-achieves-new-lows-anti-bullying-laws-makes-public-entirely-subject-to-other-peoples-feelings.shtml

8 thoughts on “California City Achieves New Lows In Anti-Bullying Laws, Makes Public Entirely Subject To Other People’s ‘Feelings

  1. Definately making more wusses for sure. How does one get thick skin if they never run across a bully. I agree about abuse or physical attacks but someone saying your mother is a dog is not within reason.

  2. The result of this is that no adult will even speak to someone that’s between the ages of 5 & 25, and this will give the state a monopoly on their minds, and as stated by GrinNBarrett (above), it will teach kids that they should and will always be protected by others, leaving them completely unable to fend for themselves from even an insult, without running to the authorities for protection.

    It robs children of the opportunity to learn basic life skills that they’ll always need by depriving them of the opportunity to develop strength and confidence, and it also teaches them to inform the authorities about everything. (rat bastard training)

    If you allow these anti-bullying laws to be passed where you live, it basically insures that your child will ALWAYS be bullied, because he’ll never develop the skills or confidence needed to defend himself from it. This is a real blow to normal child development that your kids will suffer from right through adulthood, and for the rest of their lives.

    On the bright side, if I ever need to rob people, I’ll head straight to Carson CA. where no one will have a clue how to defend themselves. I’ll just slap ’em around and take what I want, and they’ll search in vain for someone to cry about it to.

    “OOoohhh… the big, bad bully took everything from me, and all I can do about it is search for someone to cry to”…….. Is that what you want your child to be?

  3. Today’s children brought up to be so thin-skinned are tomorrow’s trigger-happy cops who “feel” threatened at every least little thing.

    1. I think we are seeing yesterdays children grown up with no balls. They stand by watching and filming violence with not a clue on how to deal with it. Am I wrong?

      It will get worse if we don’t change.

      1. I agree. This is incredibly sinister and yet so many people fail to see it.

        This has been a long time coming. In fact, I have thought for awhile now that today’s “leaders” and useful idiots are of a particular, peculiar generation — tail end of the baby boom and gen x. Grew up without the formative experience of Vietnam/WWII parents, and little direct knowledge, therefore, of war realities and consequences of poking a hornet’s nest. Absence of a solid education yet more degreed. Enough indoctrination to be stupified and enough faith in institutions (including their own graduate degrees) to be superficially optimistic about consequences and public policy mandates. Failure to recognize evil. (well, and of course many of our “leaders” ARE psychopaths).

        So of course it would make sense to pass legislation like this, LOL.

  4. This is very unfortunate for kids there; kids MUST develop thick skins to even try to get through life. Just like you cannot legislate morality, you cannot legislate NOT bullying. Further, if “feelings” are paramount, then reality goes out the door.

    One thing’s for sure: no NFL team will ever locate here, but Jonathan Martin and his mommy would approve!

  5. I’m thinking the people of Commiefornia need to do what Peter Griffin on Family Guy says and that is to “Drink until you can’t feel feelings anymore”. That should solve any or all of their “Feelings” problems. 😉

  6. I work in Compton, right next to Carson. In fact, our old warehouse was in Carson before we moved years ago.

    This state is replete with stupid politicians. Hell, we got Feinstein AND Pelosi. How much worse off could we be?

    If there’s a stupid law to be designed, some idiot politician in Crazifornia will dream it up. We get the cream of the crop when it comes to stupid.

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