Reactionary laws do little to help society.  You can read my original rant on the subject here.  After a tragedy of some sort occurs, we often turn to legislation to “right the wrong” or fix the problem so that something similar doesn’t happen to someone else in the future.  However, like most legislation, the usual result is a law that restricts freedom and does almost nothing to prevent tragedy from recurring.

Lady Gaga has the most followers of any twitter user.  Now, she is starting a trend to #MakeALawforJamey.   This trend is referencing a teen named Jamey who committed suicide as a result of bullying.  So, she thinks we should make bullying illegal because she thinks of it as a hate crime.

Bullying is terrible.  Some of it can be downright cruel.  But, making it illegal will do nothing to solve the problem or bring Jamey back.  Kids won’t stop bullying other kids because it’s illegal.  They already know it’s wrong.  What should we do?…send our kids to jail?  Bullying is alrady against the rules and that doesn’t stop them.  We don’t need to make school more like prison than it already is. Bullying is, unfortunately, normal childhood behavior that cannot be corrected by more legislation.  But, Lady Gaga is a force to be reckoned with.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets her way.

Related posts:

1. Things That Should Be Banned