3/11/11 Hartford: Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven / Hamden) testified today at the Education Committee’s Public Hearing in support of Raised Bill 1138: An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws. The initiative was developed with Senator Andrea Stillman (D-Waterford), Senate Co-Chair of the General Assembly’s Education Committee and the Connecticut Commission on Children.
Senator Looney told committee members that new technology makes it essential that Connecticut strengthen and update its bullying laws, “Essentially, our school bullying laws have been outflanked by the lightning quick evolution of technology and social media, and we now must adapt accordingly. When our bullying laws were last amended in 2008, no one could have foreseen the coming prevalence of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of electronic social media and communication, which now can provide a devastating forum for students to engage in bullying.”
“Schoolyard bullying in 2011 has moved far beyond the halls, cafeteria, and playgrounds to include a host of digital opportunities for would-be bullies to intimidate, threaten, and harass their victims,” Senator Andrea L. Stillman (D-Waterford) said. “Local school districts are challenged to identify the scope of their jurisdiction in this regard so it becomes the state’s responsibility to provide guidance, training, and muscle, when and if necessary, to help local officials help students and families impacted in this regard.”
The landmark bill strengthens school bullying laws by:
Senator Looney told committee members that new technology makes it essential that Connecticut strengthen and update its bullying laws, “Essentially, our school bullying laws have been outflanked by the lightning quick evolution of technology and social media, and we now must adapt accordingly. When our bullying laws were last amended in 2008, no one could have foreseen the coming prevalence of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of electronic social media and communication, which now can provide a devastating forum for students to engage in bullying.”
“Schoolyard bullying in 2011 has moved far beyond the halls, cafeteria, and playgrounds to include a host of digital opportunities for would-be bullies to intimidate, threaten, and harass their victims,” Senator Andrea L. Stillman (D-Waterford) said. “Local school districts are challenged to identify the scope of their jurisdiction in this regard so it becomes the state’s responsibility to provide guidance, training, and muscle, when and if necessary, to help local officials help students and families impacted in this regard.”
The landmark bill strengthens school bullying laws by:
- Expanding the definition of school bullying to include “cyber-bullying”, bullying through the use of electronic devices, or on the Internet, certain other behavior that occurs off school grounds.
- Require annual training for all school employees in preventing, identifying and responding to bullying
- Requires that each district appoint a safe school environment coordinator and specialist from its existing employees, and that each school form a safe school environment team with regularly scheduled meetings, made up of the principal, teachers and parents.
- Requires to school employees report bullying the same day they witness it, and in writing within 2 days, to the school’s principal or safe school specialist who then must investigate the incident in a timely manner.
- Establishes one school day each year as “Safe School Awareness Day.”
- Requires beginning teachers and administrators to undergo specific training before receiving certification.
- Protects school employees by giving them civil immunity for their good faith actions in reporting and responding to bullying.
The U.S. Department of Education recently confirmed that the potential harm of bullying goes well beyond lowered academic achievement and increased absenteeism. Children who are bullied can suffer depression and post-traumatic stress, a general deterioration in physical health, increased anxiety, loss of self-esteem and confidence, and even self-harm and suicidal thinking.
Tuesday, 07 June 2011