If state lawmakers manage to pass anti-bullying legislation this year, it will be known as Matt’s Law.

Matt Epling of East Lansing was 14 years old when he committed suicide after a hazing incident in which several older students physically attacked him. At its worst, bullying can result in such tragedy. For every Matt, there are innumerable children who dread going to school every day because they are being bullied.

In Washtenaw County and across the state, there are school districts that understand bullying behavior is a major problem. It not only makes the lives of children miserable, but also interferes with their ability to get an education. These districts have policies that prohibit bullying and outline clear steps for dealing with the problem.

We think all school districts in Michigan should take this issue as seriously. At the very least, schools should have a policy in place so that students understand that bullying is not acceptable behavior, and so that students, parents or teachers know what to do if someone is being bullied.

Michigan remains one of seven states that does not have anti-bullying legislation, and efforts to get a law passed here have gone nowhere over the past decade. This month, the state House passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Lyndon Township, and a similar bill is being considered in the Senate. We support the passage of this legislation as a welcome step toward getting all school districts to give this issue the attention it deserves.

Past efforts to get an anti-bullying law through the Legislature have bogged down primarily because of concerns over creating another unfunded mandate for local schools. We are sensitive to that issue, and we agree that previous versions of the legislation were overly prescriptive.

Byrne’s current bill, House Bill 4580, is more basic. It calls on all districts to have an anti-bullying policy, and recommends, but doesn’t mandate, that it include such elements as education, parental involvement, and intervention. It requires a district to have at least one public hearing before approving the policy, and to send the state a copy of the final policy.

This would not create an undue burden on school districts. Many, including Ann Arbor Public Schools, already have anti-bullying policies in place. For those that don’t, the state Board of Education offers a model policy that can be used as a guide. Other resources are available as well.

We have heard some concern that the bill may be too unambitious in what it asks of districts and therefore won’t have the impact it could. But given the level of concern over bullying that parents are showing these days, there’s less risk of that. Increasingly, parents have been asking schools to make anti-bullying a priority. If districts that don’t have a policy are compelled to develop one in a process that includes the public, that can create the opportunity parents have been looking for to have a serious discussion about the issue and make sure the new policy is meaningful and enforced.

Just an important, that policy then becomes a tool for parents whose children are being bullied. If the district isn’t addressing the problem, parents can point to the policy and insist that the school follow it.

Another issue that has delayed passage of the law so far has been the question of whether specific groups of students, particularly students who are gay, should be identified as protected groups in anti-bullying policies. Some lawmakers and “family values’’ groups have opposed any law that included sexual orientation as a protected class.

The current House bill does not address this issue, which, from a political standpoint, improves its chance of passage. We don’t understand why a student who is being bullied because he or she is gay, or is perceived as being gay, is any less deserving of protection than any other student who is being bullied. But communities would maintain the ability to include sexual orientation in the anti-bullying policies adopted by their individual districts. Again, this is a matter of getting districts to address the larger issue of bullying, while retaining some local control over what the policies include.

No one disagrees with the basic concept that every child should be able to go to school in an environment that is safe and conducive to learning. Much effort has gone into issues like guns, or gang activity, or drugs in school. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education reports that incidents of bullying have increased, as have incidents of female students being sexual harassed. In the past couple of years, cyber-bullying has become a major concern, adding new challenges and complexity to dealing with the issue.

Against that backdrop, it is clear that bullying is a more serious concern than ever. It is not too much to ask every school district in Michigan to have a policy designed to deal with it.