It’s nice to say that you want to stop bullying, but how to do it is the question. Of course, it takes money, and that’s what Hailee Smith, founder of Protecting Our Peers, is looking for. The Daily Herald recently highlighted Smith’s efforts while she ran a fundraiser at Santaquin’s Hot Rod Diner, which she owns with her husband. About 1.6 million kids grades 6 through 10 are bullied at least once a week, according to the Human Rights Education Center of Utah. And 15 percent don’t go to school out of fear. A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry notes that bullied kids often suffer depression and anxiety into adulthood. Then there’s the troubling report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention that bullying victims are likely to bring weapons to school. Someone needs to teach kids kindness.
United States Rep. Chris Stewart—named a “top conservative” by the American Conservative Union—validates his conservatism almost daily. Now, he’s supporting two bills to “restore the proper balance of power and protect our constitutional system.” First, there’s the Enforce the Law Act, which “puts a procedure in place to permit the House or the Senate to authorize a lawsuit against the Executive Branch for failure to faithfully execute the laws.” Then there’s the Faithful Execution of the Law Act, which “requires all federal officials who establish or implement a policy that refrains from enforcing a federal law to report to Congress as to why they did not enforce the law.” Meanwhile, Stewart doesn’t want the Bureau of Land Management to interfere in the Cliven Bundy case, instead leaving it up to local law enforcement. So Steward says, in effect, execute the law, unless he says otherwise.
Journalists have long had to deal with the ethical dilemma of when to report what news. It may seem simple: Report the truth, always. And of course, media outlets champ at the bit to be first with anything, whether the public cares or not. So it was with some curiosity that the public watched KSL report live on a bomb threat at Salt Lake City’s East High School. Scott Pierce, of The Salt Lake Tribune, took them to task for sensationalizing what was nothing more than a prank. He was right. Most bomb threats are not reported lest they encourage copycats. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch closely and report outcomes, but let’s lose the yellow journalism.
Twitter: @KathyBiele
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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