Bullying and why we need to blame the victim

North Dakota State Senator Oley Larsen (R-Minot/District 3) recently testified against SB-2167 which would designate the fourth Wednesday in January as “No Name Calling Day” and make bullying/harassing a criminal offense. The bill can be read in its entirety here: http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/62-2011/documents/11-0210-01000.pdf. Mr. Larsen is the same Senator who recently introduced SB-2367 that would require ALL divorces in the state (not directly involving allegations of domestic abuse, those cases would not be subject to the bill) to be subject to a mandatory twelve-month waiting period where couples would be required – by law – to take part in ten (10) one-hour marital counseling sessions. That bill can be read in its entirety here: http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/62-2011/documents/11-0756-01000.pdf.

Here is what is most troubling about Mr. Larsen’s viewpoints: he is a teacher in the Minot Public School system. Although no one may limit what crazy views Mr. Larsen has, what can be done to protect the students from his outrageous viewpoints? In testifying against the anti-bullying legislation, he said, “[i]f we actually succeed in raising children who never experience any abuse or neglect, they would grow up to be emotional marshmallows . . . frustrated when they don’t get what they want; and unable to people mean or inconsiderate towards them.” He continued by saying, “[t]o develop emotional resilience, children need to be exposed to this type of aggression and learn to deal with it effectively.” Oh, it gets better...

“How do I help victims,” he asks? “By holding them responsible for their problem.” Well done, Senator. You are correct; we need to blame the victims for being bullied. Wow... Mr. Larsen then offers some explanation to why the victims should be blamed. When discussing the topic of school shootings, asks, “are the bullies shooting up schools?” “[A]re they going on violent rampages at their workplace? No. . . . The . . . acts of violence are all committed by people acting as victims. . . . A victim believes he’s totally innocent and blames the bullies for his misery and unfair . . . life. . . . Yet society is blaming the bullies and not the victims.” I cannot imagine why society would blame bullies for pushing victims to the breaking point. Just before he is cut off (due to time restraints pursuant to Rule 306 limiting debate to 10 minutes) Mr. Larsen begins to address the topic of rape victims. We can only imagine what type of hate Mr. Larsen would have continued to spew.

Here is Mr. Larsen’s contact information

(701) 852-9006

olarsen@nd.gov

And here is the audio of his testimony.