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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com November 23, 2010
N.J. Passes Tough Antibullying Bill
By Julie Bolcer
The New Jersey state senate and assembly voted Tuesday to pass what experts
call the nation’s toughest antibullying law, propelled by a sense of
urgency following the suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi
earlier this year.
According to The Star-Ledger, the bill, which was in the works before the
suicide of Clementi, expands on the state’s 2002 antibullying law, which
encouraged but did not mandate that schools set up antibullying programs.
“The measure would require training for most public school employees on how
to spot bullying and mandate that all districts form ‘school safety teams
’ to review complaints,” reported TheStar-Ledger. “Superintendents would
have to report incidents of bullying to the state Board of Education, which
would grade schools and districts on their efforts to combat it.
“Public colleges and universities would also be required to include a
policy on bullying in its code of conduct.”
The bill passed the assembly 71-1 with five abstentions and 30-0 in the
senate. The bill now makes it way to Gov. Chris Christie, who has not said
whether he will sign it.
According to Garden State Equality, which advocated for the bill, the Anti-
Bullying Bill of Rights protects all students bullied for any reason. The
legislation maintains the language of New Jersey's existing antibullying law
, enacted in 2002, which enumerates protection of students based on their
actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and
has clear language protecting students bullied for any other reason.
Among its many far-reaching provisions, Garden State Equality reports that
the bill is the first in the country to set firm deadlines for bullying
incidents to be reported, investigated, and resolved. It also creates an
antibullying team at each school led by a specialist, and grades every
school on its antibullying efforts and requires that the school post the
grade on its website.
The bill is also the first to encompass bullying at public universities,
which must create antibullying rules and procedures and distribute them to
every student within seven days of the beginning of the fall semester.
Clementi, who was 18 years old, committed suicide by jumping off the George
Washington Bridge in September after his roommate secretly filmed and
webcast his private encounter with another man. The roommate, Dharun Ravi
and another student, Molly Wei, face invasion of privacy charges. Both have
withdrawn from Rutgers. |
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