Social Policy in the Eyes of Social Workers

Summary

In an age where using advanced and portable forms technology on an everyday basis is the norm, the Internet has become both a valuable and destructive tool for students. While traditional forms of bullying continue to have detrimental effects on students in the United States, cyberbullying now has the power to easily allow individuals to harass students anonymously not only during school hours, but 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of where they may be. Currently, each individual state has the power to enforce its own bullying and cyberbullying laws, but with so many of them not including the term “cyberbullying,” criminal sanctions, school sanctions, or off-campus behaviors, a federal legislation needs to be put into effect to ensure that the necessary prevention efforts and disciplinary actions for cyberbullies are implemented and enforced.

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is any form of bullying that takes place with the assistance of electronic technology and various communication tools, such as computers, cellphones, social media sites, and even text messages. The intent behind cyberbullying is to demonstrate the power that someone has over another who may be seen as weaker. Examples of this behavior can include using the Internet to post threatening pictures or messages about an individual, spreading rumors through email, and creating fake profiles to spread private information.

Scope of the Problem in the U.S.

According to the 2013 National Center for Educational Statistics, 7% of students between 6^th and 12^th grade have experienced some form of cyberbullying. By the time these children reach high school, the rates increase to 15%. Moreover, cyberbullying is related to a wide range of emotional and psychological problems such as anger, suicidal ideation, and low self-esteem. While this issue is highly relevant and affects a large population, it has received a minimal amount of attention from both research and government officials. While all 50 states in the United States have bullying laws in effect, only 23 of them include cyberbullying. Furthermore, only 14 states have laws that allow schools to discipline their students if the cyberbullying occurs off-campus, thus limiting the disciplinary control that they have over the issue.

The Effects of Cyberbullying

While traditional bullying and cyberbullying share many common characteristics, the added use of technology can make cyberbullying more harmful for the following reasons:

• The bully has the ability to remain anonymous, thus making it easier for him or her to hide behind technology.
• There is no limit on where or when someone can be cyberbullied because the Internet can be used both inside and outside of school.
• There is a greater potential of a large audience being exposed to what the bully decides to expose, which then allows for an unlimited number of people to see a hurtful message or embarrassing picture.

What Can You Do?

• Advocate for a federal anti-cyberbullying policy. HR1966, also know as the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, is a bill that was introduced back in April of 2009 but has not had legislators take action on it since. Its goal is to amend chapter 41 of title 18, United States Code, so that those who commit cyberbullying will be fined or imprisoned for up to two years. Therefore, it is imperative to write letters to government officials and policy makers who have the power to help this bill get reexamined and then enacted into law.
• Educate students, parents, and staff. With cyberbullying primarily occurring outside of the awareness of other adults, students must be taught about its serious implications, how to take action if they become victims of it, and understand the consequences. Staff members and parents need to become aware of the warning signs of cyberbullying so that they can properly prevent and stop it once it occurs.

Conclusion

In the United States, there is still so much that needs to be done to properly address this 21^st century epidemic. In order to move one step further towards eliminating cyberbullying, citizens must educate themselves on this issue and realize that it is preventable; however, more support is necessary in order to have a federal law passed that mandates prevention in schools and proper consequences for offenders.

We live in a world where people are comfortable with a woman showing cleavage while walking down the street, or better yet, showing an ample amount of her breast on the red carpet.  It’s even considered acceptable for advertisements to pervasively illustrate skin, curves, breasts, and more!  But why is it a big deal when a woman chooses to breastfeed in public?

Why is this important?

Time after time, we hear about stories of women who were told that they needed to relocate while nursing their child, given looks of disgust, or even being shamed through social media.  It’s already hard being a mother, and yet when a mother chooses to use her breasts for what they were intended, she is often mocked and not applauded.  Why does is seem that women have to feel as if they are committing a crime, when they are merely performing a natural responsibility of a mother, feeding their child?  Breastfeeding is not only one of the healthiest gifts that a mother could provide to her child, providing nutrients, antibodies, and so much more, but it benefits that mother as well; not to mention it is free and the fastest way to provide nourishment to a child.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

• Lowers baby’s risk of having asthma or allergies
• May boost the child’s intelligence
• Fewer ear infections
• May protect your child from obesity
• Physical bond creates a secure relationship
• Lower risks of SIDS
• Helps mother lose pregnancy weight faster
• Lowers risk of breast and ovarian cancer for mothers
• Reduced risk for postpartum depression
• Convenient and portable

“Breastfeeding rates continue to rise in the U.S., yet breastfeeding did not continue for as long as recommended in 2011.”

www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/2014breastfeedingreportcard.pdf

Approaches and Results

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are laws that are put in place to supposedly protect the breastfeeding mom.  In almost all 50 states, DC, and the Virgin Islands, there are laws to protect mothers who choose to breastfeed their child in public.  The law states that a mother has the right to breastfeed her child anywhere that she is allowed, whether that is a public or private location.   The issue that arises is that, if there is no enforcement provision with the law, the law is essentially useless because there is no penalty for violating the law, or telling a mother she needs to relocate while breastfeeding.  In the state of Illinois, there is an enforcement provision, which means that if a woman has been denied to right to breastfeed her child, in any location other than a place of worship, a mother may take legal action against the individual.

What can you do?

There is still work to do to support breastfeeding mothers.  Many states that don’t have enforcement provisions with the breastfeeding laws still need to make some changes.  Illinois is fortunate to have enforcement provisions on the right to breastfeed in public, but lack enforcement provisions on workplace pumping.  We need to support, bring awareness, and advocate for those who don’t have the law supporting them.

• Create groups to spread awareness; Social media is a great outlet
• Know your rights! http://breastfeedinglaw.com/
• Advocate http://www.naba-breastfeeding.org/
• Look to state legislators for help
  • Champaign-Urbana is the 13^th Congressional district of Illinois, Rep. Rodney Davis
  • State Legislators Websites Directory: ncsl.org/aboutus/ncslservice/state-legislative-websites-directory.aspx
  • Write a letter to regarding your disappointment of lack of enforcements to protect breastfeeding mothers

Other Resources on Breastfeeding

• Champaign-Urbana Area http://www.c-uphd.org/breastfeeding-support.html
• La Leche http://www.llli.org/
• Lactation Matters http://lactationmatters.org/

Is It a Big Deal?

The effects of climate change can be catastrophic, especially to vulnerable populations. Global development institutions such as the World Bank identify climate change as a leading driver of poverty. Bold, swift, and sweeping policies must be put in place to address what 2016 Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, deems as the biggest threat to the United States in current history.

What Is Climate Change?

Climate change refers to the rise in surface temperatures on Earth. It is primarily a result of the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, warming the Earth’s surface. Rising temperatures have adverse effects on ecosystems, weather, sea levels, etc., and these effects exacerbate poverty and the decline in health and general well being. Vulnerable populations are most at risk.

Scope of the Problem

Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. And for many more people, climate change will impact their health and economic prosperity in other detrimental ways.

Effects on Vulnerable Populations

Children, the elderly, indigenous populations, communities of color, and the poor in rural communities, coastal regions, and urban areas are among the most vulnerable. Here are some of the challenges they encounter:

Limited access to natural resources for rural communities	Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases	Limited access to traditional foods for indigenous populations	Food insecurity and higher food prices
Physical isolation, lack of economic diversity	Diarrheal and hygiene diseases	Relocation of tribal communities	Socioeconomic and health impacts
Suicides rates, dementia, schizophrenia	Morbidity, mortality, pediatric deaths, emergency room visits	Damage and loss to settlements	Disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color

Cap-and-Trade vs. Carbon Tax: Social or Corporate Welfare?

In order to protect our most vulnerable populations, climate change needs to be promptly addressed. Many stakeholders, including economists and policymakers, agree that attaching a price to carbon (the biggest contributor of the greenhouse gases to global warming – see Figure 1) is imperative for reducing emissions. Arguably, two of the most popular policy considerations are: (1) cap-and-trade and (2) carbon tax.

In cap-and-trade, a national cap on carbon emission is set (X units of carbon). Polluters are given permits to pollute up to their permit value, a portion of X. Any leftover amount from the permit can be negotiated and sold to other polluters via an exchange similar to the stock exchange. Polluters who want to pollute more than their permit value have to buy a bigger allowance from other permit holders. In a carbon tax, similar to a gasoline tax, polluters are taxed on the amount of carbon emitted ($Y per unit of carbon).

Figure 1

Cap-and-Trade

Advantages:

• A cap amount is established, increasing chances that emission reductions are met

• More likely to be adopted by Congress and private industry

Disadvantages:

• Essentially a regressive tax
• Fluctuating price on carbon, depending on bargains and negotiations
• Relatively favors corporations and the wealthy

Carbon Tax

 Advantages:

• Provides steady revenue stream, used for clean energy initiatives or rebated to the public
• Puts a clear price on carbon, making business decision-making easier
• More transparent, no insider-driven financial instruments or backdoor negotiations
• More equitable distribution of income from taxes
• Covers the entire economy, including households and automobiles, not just certain industries

Disadvantages:

• No certainty in emission reduction – industry can pollute and just pay more taxes
• Vulnerable to loopholes, just like our current tax code

Call to Action

On an individual level, we can mitigate our environmental footprint by:

• Moving to a meat and dairy-free diet, a call from the United Nations – meat production is one of the leading causes of global warming
• Decreasing our carbon footprint – see how daily activities are contributing to carbon emissions (http://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/)
• Turning your home into an energy producer – change your light bulbs and install solar panels (http://energy.gov/energysaver/planning-home-renewable-energy-systems)

On a policy level, let’s advocate for policies that put our environment (our home) and our most vulnerable populations first. Cap-and-trade, difficult to implement and enforce, has been ineffective in the European Union. The Nobel laureate economist, Joseph Stiglitz, says cap-and-trade in the U.S. is doomed for failure. A carbon tax is simpler and easier to implement, is more transparent, can be adjusted to ensure that emission targets are met, and has more equitable income distribution – thus putting public interests before private ones. Speak out, write Congress, and advocate for a tax on carbon.

Executive Summary

Mass incarceration is an imm issue in the United States, where funding is being given to creating more prisons rather than to education, health care, or other programs designed to ensure individuals don’t end up incarcerated in the first place.

 Scope of the Problem

This topic is important because it affects such a large percentage of our nation’s population. Although the United States comprises just 5% of the world’s population, U.S. citizens represent about 25% of those incarcerated. This doesn’t necessarily mean that our country is made up of a population that is that much more criminally minded than the rest of the world, just that we like to lock people up more. Overcrowding in prisons is also a major problem. The rate of incarceration has dramatically increased in the last 30 years, but the number of prisons has not kept up with these numbers.  It’s an incredibly expensive business that our nation partakes in, and not necessarily for the right reasons. People should be locked up because they are a danger to our society or in need of rehabilitation, not simply because we’re mad at them. It is a broken system.

People should care because it is our future at stake. It is also a self-fulfilling prophecy that people of color end up incarcerated because our society sets them up for it. Rather than providing a means for people to be able to support themselves or believe they can contribute to the world in a positive fashion, children learn from an early age that they are not worthy and once they are a part of the system it is incredibly difficult to succeed at getting themselves out of it. If we want the cycle to end, it is important to see that it is the system, not simply bad individuals, that is leading to more and more people being locked up. Crime rates have not continued rising, but harsher sentencing laws have left people behind bars longer for lesser crimes. Some states have “Three Strikes Laws” and incredibly harsh penalties for even small drug offenses that send citizens to prison and perpetuate a cycle that has already proven to be less than effective. Recidivism is almost inevitable with all of the hoops criminals must jump through once they do reach parole.

 The Facts:

• Incarceration is not color blind.
• The rate of incarceration has dramatically increased in the last 30 years.
• Disenfranchising voters has distorted American democracy. Many citizens who have been personally affected by the prison system due to felony convictions no longer have the right to vote.
• Prisons are incredibly expensive to run and maintain.
• Over 2.4 million people are locked up in the United States.
• The United States incarcerates a greater percentage of its population than any other nation in the world.
• The United States comprises about 5% of the world’s population, but about 25% of those incarcerated.
• Zero tolerance policies adversely affect black students.
• “Get tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies contribute.
• Incarceration has not proved to be a productive rehabilitation strategy for behavior.

Implications and Recommendations

What you can do:

• Understand the cycle of incarceration. Once a person is a part of the system, it can be incredibly difficult to extricate oneself form it because there are so many hoops to jump through. You can visit http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/page.cfm?id=107 for more information.
• It’s a privilege not afforded to all, and taken away from too many.
• Become a part of the movement. Know what is happening and what you can participate in. https://www.popularresistance.org/tag/mass-incarceration/

Conclusion:

            There is still so much to be done to address this massive issue regarding so much of our population. It is important that citizens first acknowledge that mass incarceration is a problem that needs to be addressed and realize that it is a systemic issue rather than simply our society having more and more bad people in it.  Citizens should educate themselves more on the issues and fight for changes to be made.

 For more information:

Prison State: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365235229/

https://afsc.org/story/facts-about-mass-incarceration-people-color-us

http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/military-police-and-arms/police-and-human-rights/mass-incarceration-in-the-usa

3.3 million workers are paid at or below the federal minimum wage (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013).  From 2007 to 2009 we saw yearly increases in the federal minimum wage, but it has not seen an increase in 6 years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). In those 6 years the minimum wage has become farther and farther away from a livable wage. This issue is affecting a huge chunk of our population and making it impossible for them to get out of poverty. As of 2014 a minimum wage worker made 14,500 yearly making it nearly impossible for them to support themselves let alone a family (raise the wage, 2014).

The Facts on Minimum Wage

Many people who oppose the increase in minimum wage say that it was never meant to be a wage people live off of. Those same opponents say that jobs with minimum wage are for high school students looking for a part time job and not for people trying to support a family. According to the United States Department of Labor 89% of the people who would benefit from an increase of the minimum wage are 20 and over and 56% of those workers are also women (United States Department of Labor, 2015).

What is Currently Being Done?

 In 2013 President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage to 9 dollars an hour. Since that State of the Union address Washington D.C. and 13 states have increased their minimum wage. Senator Tom Harkin led the way by introducing the 2012 Fair Minimum Wage Act. This act hoped to raise the minimum wage to $9.40 by 2014. After that the minimum wage would increase each year with the cost of living, which is known as indexing the wage. By indexing the minimum wage than every few years we would no longer have to play the game of catch up. The minimum wage would increase each year with inflation making it easier for workers to live comfortably. This bill did not pass in Congress and the federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour.

A Call to Action

“No one in America should be working 40 hours a week and living below the poverty level. No one. No one.”

— Vice President Biden, October 7, 2014

In our society the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to grow. As Vice President Biden said in the quote above, no one should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty. This is not always true in our country today. Many people who work full time jobs still struggle to make ends meet. All they want is to live a stable and comfortable life. These workers should not have to worry about how they are going to put food on their table when they are employed at a full time job.

We need to make our stories heard. If you have a personal story on how the minimum wage has affected you or someone you know then go www.whitehouse.gov/raise-the-wage to share your story. Spread your story on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so that people everywhere can see why this issue is so important and whom it is affecting. Use the hashtag #1010means and #raisethewage. Let lawmakers know just how hard it is to live on these wages.

The Fair Minimum Wage Act would have gone a long way to help workers and families live a better life. Write your local representative and urge them to support this Act. Lets get the Fair Minimum Wage Act voted into action.

Get informed! If you personally do not know what it is like to live off of minimum wage go online and read the stories of over three million workers who have to. Try to complete the minimum wage challenge where you live off of $77 a week. You can read some politicians stories of their attempt of the challenge at

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/07/21/3462209/minimum-wage-challenge-congress/.

A Recap of Steps We can Take

Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/raise-the-wage and share your story of how minimum wage has affected you or someone you know. Spread your story on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so that people everywhere can see why this issue is so important and whom it is affecting. Use the hashtag #1010means and #raisethewage.

• Write and call to your local state representative and urge them to support the Fair Minimum Wage Act.
• Know which candidates for the upcoming election support this act and who does not. Vote responsibly.
• Get informed! Go to any of the sites below for more information.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm

https://www.whitehouse.gov/raise-the-wage

http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/characteristics-of-minimum-wage-workers-2014.pdf

http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/documents/10.10.14-UpdatedMinimumWageFactSheet.pdf

A lack of mandated paid parental leave in the United States has not only placed the U.S. behind many other countries in policy, but also in health and work benefits.

Introduction

Only 4 percent of 186 countries studied do not provide some form of pay to women on maternity leave. Within this 4 percent, there is only one industrious, high-income country: the United States (Heymann and McNeill, 2013). While the U.S. has made strides in this area by providing women with protection against pregnancy discrimination as well as the right to take unpaid parental leave, this country is still far behind many others in more fully providing support to families with newborns. This issue, however, goes far beyond a simple matter of keeping-up-with-the-Joneses. A lack of paid parental leave can have significant effects not only on a family’s budget, but also the family’s health.

 Scope of the Problem in the U.S.

The current condition of access to paid leave in the United States is very limited. Employers in the U.S. have reported that only 11 percent of workers are able to formally take paid family leave. Some workers, however, report being able to informally receive paid family leave through either arrangements with managers or saving up other paid leave days, like vacation days (The Council of Economic Advisers, 2014). While this shows that there are some means by which workers can try to get the time of that they need, many workers are still left without access to this support.

Benefits of Paid Parental Leave

There are multiple benefits that make paid parental leave a crucial addition to workers’ benefits. For starters, paid parental leave has been shown to have positive effects on infant health. The use of paid leave decreased the infant mortality rate by 2.5 percent (Tanaka, 2005). It also increases the likelihood that mothers will breastfeed, which greatly benefits infants’ health (Waldfogel, 2015). It has even been found that paid maternal leave can have long-term effects for children such as educational attainment, lower teen pregnancy rates, higher IQ test scores and higher earning in adulthood (The Council of Economic Advisers, 2014).

Effects of Paid Parental Leave on Employers

While employers might worry that offering paid parental leave will lead to more negatives than benefits, research has proven otherwise. From studying California’s implementation of paid family leave, it has been found that after having leave, mothers of 1 to 3 year old children have increased weekly hours and pay by almost 10 percent. This shows that after a paid maternity leave, mothers have an increased likelihood of not only returning to their workplace, but also advancing in their careers. Not only is this a benefit to the employee, but also the employer. Research has found that offering paid parental leave to employees benefits employers because it helps increase their ability to recruit and retain employees. Having a higher retention rate can lead to boosting morale and spending less money on worker turnover. In fact, out of a survey of 253 employers in California using the paid family leave initiative, over 90 percent reported either no noticeable difference or a positive effect on morale, turnover, and profitability (The Council of Economic Advisers, 2014). Therefore, paid parental leave isn’t shown to have caused negative effects on employers.

Conclusion

As the only industrialized country that does not have mandated paid parental leave, the U.S. leaves many of its parents without the possibility of being able to stay home with their newborn for much time due to financial strain. By consulting data gathered from countries that have implemented paid parental leave, the benefits of doing so are clear. The paid leave has been show to increase the baby’s health in not only the short term, but also the long term. It also has been shown to benefit mothers in their careers by improving their likelihood to increase both work hours and pay later on. Data from the majority of employers who have implemented paid parental leave have reported either no noticeable difference to positive effects in their business. Therefore, this is a policy that not only helps employees and their families, but is also good for employers.

Call to Action

The Obama administration has taken note of the growing difficulty for American families to balance both work and family in their lives. There is thus a growing need for more support in the workplace to allow employees to have some flexibility to negotiate this balance. The Obama administration has outlined some steps in moving toward this goal in their paper entitled “Obama Administration Initiatives to Help Americans Meet Work and Family Responsibilities.” This initiative suggests to:

• Help states create start-up funds for launching paid leave programs,
• Grow the knowledge base for paid leave programs through more data collection, and
• Implement paid parental leave for federal employees to show the government’s commitment to allowing employees to build strong families.

Following these initiatives will help increase the availability of paid parental leave to employees in the United States.

 

America is gradually becoming more progressive with non-normative sexual issues (read: non-straight, i.e. gay, bisexual, transgender, etc.). In June 26, 2015, Supreme Court finally legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, which was an extremely debated and controversial topic for the longest time. However, the government is still not doing everything to keep the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community safe, especially in schools. For example, LGBT youth are more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as skipping school and abusing drugs and alcohol than their heterosexual peers. They are also more than twice as likely to be depressed and think about or commit suicide[i]. Why? Because they are more likely to be bullied. The fact that there is no federal law (read: Title IX) that protects a student’s sexual orientation and gender expression, especially in this “progressive” time in America, is alarming. So what should we school social workers do?

[i] http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/groups/lgbt/lgbtyouthtipsheet.pdf

Definitions and Facts

Sexual orientation is a person’s romantic and/or sexual attraction to the opposite sex or gender (straight), the same sex or gender (homosexual), or to both sexes or more than one gender (bisexual/pansexual). Gender identity is as simple as that—it’s the gender that one identifies with (male, female, or somewhere else on the gender spectrum). And just a note: you are biologically born with your sex, and gender is a societal conception which may or may not match with your given sex. Lastly, transgender refers to a person whose gender identity is different from their biological sex.[i]

Bullying is defined as “unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance…[and] the behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time,” according to stopbullying.gov.

According to a 2013 biennial national survey by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) about LGBT high school and middle school students’ experiences,

• 71% heard “gay” being used in a negative way, which made 91% of them feel distressed.
• 5% heard homophobic remarks like “dyke” and “faggot.”
• 33% heard anti-transgender remarks like “tranny” and “he/she.”
• 51% heard teachers or staff say something homophobic, and 55.5% heard negative remarks about gender expression.
• 36% were physically harassed (pushed/shoved) because of their sexual orientation; 23% because of their gender expression.
• 5% were physically assaulted (punched, kicked, injured with a weapon) because of their sexual orientation; 11% for their gender expression.
• 49% were targets for cyberbullying (harassment over texting, social media like Facebook, etc.).
  • With the past three points, 57% chose not to report the incident to school staff because they either thought nothing would come out of it or that it would be the situation worse. 62% of those who did report said that the staff didn’t do anything in response.
• 28% were disciplined for public displays of affection that non-LGBT students weren’t punished for.
• 18% were banned from attending a dance with someone of the same gender.
• 32% transgendered students were prevented from wearing clothing that matched their gender identity, 59% couldn’t use a bathroom that matched their gender identity, and 42% couldn’t use their preferred name.[ii]

[i] http://www.nea.org/tools/18846.htm

[ii] http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/10/22/3583011/glsen-bullying-study-2013/

What’s the Big Deal?

While Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federal funded education program or activity[i], protects all students from sex-based harassment, it doesn’t prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. When LGBT students experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, it affects their academic achievement and mental well-being. For instance, they were more than three times likely to have missed school in the past month due to a hostile school environment, they had lower grade point averages (9%-15% lower), and they had a higher rates of depression and lower self-esteem.[ii]

So why is it important to focus our efforts on changing Title IX to include the protection of students’ sexual orientation and gender identity? Only 19 states plus the District of Columbia has a law that prohibits bullying because of sexual orientation and gender identity, while 24 states don’t have a law that protects LGBT students.[iii] It is a violation of human rights to be discriminated against due to sexual orientation and gender identity. Every student should feel safe in their school environment and should not constantly feel threatened by others due to being themselves, therefore it’s up to us to persuade politicians to take the right stand and eradicate the anti-LGBT hostility. We can help save lives.

[i] http://www.justice.gov/crt/overview-title-ix-education-amendments-1972-20-usc-1681-et-seq

[ii] http://www.glsen.org/article/glsen-releases-new-national-school-climate-survey

[iii] http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/safe_school_laws

What Can We Do?

• Advocate for federal comprehensive anti-bullying policies (revamp Title IX). Most schools have anti-bullying policies that don’t include the protection of sexual orientation and gender identity. When schools have a comprehensive policy, LGBT students were less likely to be verbally harassed and more likely to have staff intervene when it happened.[i] However, this is a state by state case. We need to nationalize this comprehensive policy. Write to policy makers and government officials, especially those on the conservative side, pushing for Title IX to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. Also, if you are in a state that doesn’t have a comprehensive anti-bullying policy, write to your state legislators.
• Encourage Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) at your local school. GSA’s made LGBT students feel safer in school due to experiencing less harassment or discrimination.
• Don’t be silent! If you see someone being bullied, speak out. Don’t perpetuate the harassment and discrimination by being silent. Help foster a safer atmosphere. Get training in bullying prevention and intervention, and if your school doesn’t offer a program, push for one or get help with starting one.
• Get educated. You can learn more about the LGBT community here: http://www.lgbt-education.info/, http://www.glsen.org/, https://www.aclu.org/issues/lgbt-rights

[i] http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/10/22/3583011/glsen-bullying-study-2013/

Mental health problems affect about 61.5 million American adults in a given year, and about 13.6 million have a serious mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, 2013).  Mental Health America stated that about thirty to forty percent of U.S.-born Latinos are affected by mental health illnesses throughout their lives, while the rate for non-Latino whites is roughly fifty percent.  Though U.S born Latinos have lower rates for mental illnesses in a lifetime, they are more likely to attempt suicide than non-Latino whites. Sixty percent of non-Latino whites will seek professional mental health treatment, while less than forty percent of Latinos with a mental illness will seek help from a mental health professional.

Introduction to the Problem

NAMI made the following statement towards the need for mental health reformation:

One thing that most Americans can agree on is that the mental health system is broken. In many parts of the country, mental health treatment, services and supports are not available until a crisis occurs. In some communities, jails and prisons have become the default place for mental health treatment. The facts make one thing clear: mental illness is a major public health crisis in the U.S. today.

Mental Health America also believes that one legislative priority regarding mental health should be is for there to be prevention for all, because that is a better way to treat mental disorders, then waiting until a crisis occurs.

There is a notion that Latinos don’t believe in mental disorders, and that may be true for some people that identify as Latinos. But in reality it is that Latinos don’t have as much access to mental health professionals for multiple reasons. For example, Latinos may not have insurance that will cover the costs of seeking professional mental health treatment, there are no mental health professionals in the needed areas, or there may be a language barrier. It is also important to note that from a study done by the American Psychiatric Association in 2014, Mental Health America stated that bilingual patients were evaluated differently depending on whether they were being evaluated in Spanish or English. There are very few mental health professionals that identify as Latinos, according to a fact sheet produced by NAMI, about one percent of members of the American Psychological Association self-identity as Latino. The same fact sheet also mentioned how Latino youth are misdiagnosed (if they are even diagnosed) with a conduct disorder, and Latino youth are overrepresented in the criminal system due to this misdiagnosis; which also ties with NAMI’s statement for mental health reformation.

Approaches

The Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 (S 1945) and the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 (HR 2646) are the most recent major pieces of legislation that have been introduced to Congress for the reformation on the mental health system in the United States. NAMI gave a concise summary on both of these bills, which will eventually break down barriers so that every individual and family will have access to services. Latinos will benefit from these bills because there will be improvement of integration on mental healthcare in Medicaid.

What can WE do?

• Email representatives to pass S 1945 and HR 2646
  • NAMI has templates of letters you can email your representatives
• Learn more about Latino population, culture and barriers prohibiting access to mental health professionals
• Take the pledge to be stigma free on the NAMI website, “See the person, not the illness”

An Argument for Raising the Cap on Social Security Payroll Tax

In the United States, Social Security is funded through a dedicated payroll tax. Every employee and their employer are required to contribute 6.2% of earned wages. These wages are capped, however, at just $118,500 a year (SSA, 2015). As a regressive tax, individuals with an income over this cap are required to pay a smaller portion of their income than individuals falling under the cap. Raising the cap gradually over the next 5 years would ensure workers pay their fair share and would reduce Social Security shortcomings.

 

Introduction to the Problem

Today, someone making $10 million a year contributes the same amount into Social Security as someone making $117,000 (Sanders, 2015). The current social security cap only covers 83% of all earnings; this leaves 17% of taxable income that is currently not being taxed. With the current system, it is projected that future recipients of Social Security will be unable to receive full benefits due to an imbalance of contributors and recipients (U.S. News, 2014). Raising the
cap would correct this imbalance, and simultaneously prevent the working class from further hindrance.

The Facts About Social Security
• Before Social Security was developed, about half of our seniors lived in poverty.
• Today, fewer than 10 percent live in poverty
• Some say we can’t afford to maintain Social Security because of our deficit problem
• In reality, Social Security has not contributed a penny to our deficit because it is a payroll tax, not a program funded by the U.S. Treasury.
• Social Security is facing threats of substantial cuts.
• These cuts and amendments would increase the retirement age, increase taxes on the working class, and ultimately take resources from those who need them most.
• An average 65-year-old currently receives only $16,000 in Social Security benefits; the proposed cuts would decrease her benefits by $1,000 when she reaches 85 (Sanders, 2015).
• There is a fairer and more humane way to make Social Security last.

Call To Action

The economic gap between the rich and the poor has grown exponentially over the last three decades. Raising the cap would ultimately restore fairness to the system. A CEPR analysis of 2011 Census Bureau data found that eliminating the cap would affect the pocketbooks of the top 5.2 percent of wage earners; lifting it to $250,000 would hit 1.3 percent. These affected workers would be 97.5 percent male and 98 percent white (Financial Advisor, 2015).
Virginia Reno, vice president for income security at the National Academy of Social Insurance puts it this way:

“We support Social Security because they hope to get benefits someday, but also because we want to live in a society where everyone has basic security in retirement. High-income people have the ability to pay proportionately, and to live in a society where everyone has basic protection.”

What Can You Do?

In order to raise the cap on Social Security taxes we have to let our voices be heard.
• Lobby your federal government representatives
• Educate yourself and know the facts
• Know the candidates and vote responsibly in upcoming elections

http://www.ontheissues.org/Social_Security.htm

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/maxtax.html

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2014/11/14/5-potential-social-security-fixes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/12/clinton-is-open-to-raising-social-security-taxes-on-six-figure-earners/

http://www.fa-mag.com/news/time-to-raise—-or-scrap—-the-social-security-payroll-cap-17633.html

Statistics show that 3.2 million children are victims of bullying each year. There are laws, policies, and advocacy groups working towards bullying awareness and punishing those who bully others, but the problem is not getting any better. 90% of 4^th through 8^th graders report being the victim of bullying, and 1 in 10 students will drop out of school due to repeated bullying.

Bullying is a serious issue across the United States, but what are we doing to help solve it?

Why Should We Care? Long Term Effects of Bullying and Being Bullied

Studies show that if bullying behavior in children is not handled correctly, those children can grow up to develop anger issues, often end up as the aggressor in domestic violence issues, and may even have trouble holding a job or maintaining personal relationships. As parents, children who were bullies often berate and put down their children, argue with other parents, and worst of all, set a poor example for their child. This starts a bullying cycle that will only get worse as time goes on.

Bullying has been shown to lead to increased instances of missing school or dropping out completely, self-confidence and self-esteem issues, depression, and if it goes on for long enough, can lead to self-harming and suicide. This is especially true if the one being bullied is already in a minority group and may not have people to talk to about their issues. Bullying can lead to serious emotional and mental issues later in life, and children who are bullied can also grow up to become a bully themselves, transferring their anger and frustration from their treatment onto others. “When individuals must deal with deep emotional upset without any support or system of coping skills the outcome can be dire.”

What is being done at the state and federal level?

Did you know that there is currently NO federal law that specifically applies to bullying? Federally funded schools are only obligated to resolve bullying when it is deemed to overlap with harassment based on a person’s race, national origin, color, sex, age, disability, or religion.

States are responsible for implementing laws and policies at their level, though the laws and policies often include different things. 41 states have both laws and policies governing bullying, while the remaining 10 states have laws only. Some states specify which groups or characteristics someone may be bullied based on, while others do not. In Illinois specifically, there are laws governing bullying, but no policies. Illinois has five laws that cover bullying which also include cyber bullying.

To look up specific bullying laws and policies for each state, visit this site: http://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/index.html.

Call to Action: What can WE do?

Organizations such as dosomething.org, The Bully Project, and stopbullying.gov are incredibly active in attempting to spread awareness of and stop bullying, but they can only do so much. Putting a stop to bullying requires support and education where it happens most: school.

Dosomething.org offers a “Bullying Policy Makeover” program where schools can sign up to host an event to review their current anti-bullying policy, discuss bullying problems specific to their school, and finally, create a new policy that is relevant to their school system and will be more effective than the current policy in reducing bullying. This program is open to all students and gets them involved in speaking up about what bullying related issues they think are most important to them and aim to help implement a more effective and current policy to tackle these issues. If all school social workers took advantage of this opportunity, they could make a huge impact at their school and hopefully, greatly reduce the amount of bullying in their school.

On top of reviewing and modifying school bullying policies, educators and administrators need to be trained on how to respond to bullying, and to be familiar with the school’s bullying policy so that they can adequately protect the students that are being victimized and help to rehabilitate those who choose to target others. According to dosomething.org, 1 in 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bullying and will only intervene 4% of the time. Additionally, over 67% of students believe that schools respond poorly to bullying, with a high percentage of students believing that adult help is infrequent and ineffective.

Conclusion

Bullying is a nationwide problem that affects everyone at some point in their life. Whether you have been bullied, known someone who was bullied, or maybe bullied someone yourself, everyone has been affected by bullying in some way. Millions of children are affected by bullying every year, and the statistics surrounding bullying do not seem to be getting any better. As social workers, we can make a huge impact by getting involved in our schools and communities, spreading awareness, and facilitating education for educators and administrators.

Together, we can stop bullying.

https://www.dosomething.org/

http://www.stopbullying.gov/index.html

http://www.thebullyproject.com/

http://www.stopbullyingfoundation.org

http://www.stompoutbullying.org/