In our own school district not to long ago we had a girl who committed suicide because she was bullied. That is not okay and it really hit close to home. I think that its totally wrong that bullying really came into light in our nation and even our own state when suicide is at hand. A child should not have to take their own life in order to be heard. Bullied children find it hard to focus in class when they are worrying about being made fun of or beat up. It affects their behavior and their performance in school. Every child’s complaint of being bullied needs to be taken with seriousness. Cracking harder down on punishment will only fix half of the problem. I bet some bullies aren’t aware they are bulling people. We should also educate children on bullying and how it can be prevented. The only reason people would have a reason to be opposed to this bill strengthening proposal is if maybe their children or some other child close to them is a bully and at risk for greater punishment. I find it morally wrong to make fun of people for who they are or for who they choose to be. I think its great to embrace individuality, we should also teach other people to do so. People bully people for different reasons. I’m not saying its everyone else’s job to try and help fix or educate people who bully, but we should try to get them to help themselves and other children who need help. Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your existence; define yourself. No one should let someone really impact them with bad things they say, but some can’t help it. We are a nation surrounded by so many types of bullying. We as a nation need to focus in on this problem in order to fix this problem. Stopping a bully can save a life. Some people think they're joking when really they could be hurting someone, no one likes to feel badly about who they are. We should send a message that who you are is okay. Not the message the media sends. Sending messages like this can prevent bullying. But, the only thing that can really stop bullying is teaching and learning. So think before you speak.