Proposed Wisconsin city ordinance to fine parents of bullies


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin city is considering an ordinance that would impose fines on the parents of young bullies after a viral social media post showed handwritten notes that students sent to a middle school girl urging her to kill herself.

The Legislative Committee in Wisconsin Rapids voted unanimously Monday to move an anti-bullying ordinance to be considered on June 18 by the Common Council, the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune reported.

The draft ordinance prohibits bullying, harassment, and retaliation against anyone who reports such incidents. The measure would also hold parents and guardians responsible for such behavior of children younger than 18 years old. Penalties for a first fineable offense would be $50, with additional costs bringing the total to $313, City Attorney Susan Schill said. But parents would receive warnings first.

"Preventing bullying needs to be a partnership between the schools and parents and the police department," Wisconsin Rapids Police Chief Ermin Blevins said. "If we don't work together, we won't be able to solve bullying."

The ordinance was proposed by Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Craig Broeren after the social media post detailing the bullying suffered by a Wisconsin Rapids Area Middle School seventh-grader went viral in February.

The girl's parents earlier said that their daughter was handling the situation well and that she did not seem to believe what the bullies told her.

The ordinance was modeled after one implemented in by the Plover Police Department in 2015.

Plover Police Chief Dan Ault said the department hasn't fined anyone in the four years since the ordinance was passed, and it has issued fewer than a dozen written warnings. Ault noted that educating the public was the most significant outcome.

"It caused a shock factor," Ault said. "Parents had to pay attention. They have to take it seriously because there's a penalty. This isn't government telling you how to raise your children. It's government begging you to raise your children."

___

An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that the penalties for the first fineable offense would total $313, not $363.

___

Information from: Daily Tribune Media, http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast