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Why New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Law Should Be a Model for Other States

6 Sep

On Sept. 1, New Jersey’s new anti-bullying law – billed as the nation’s toughest – took effect. The law, which cosponsor Barbara Buono, the state’s Senate Majority leader, called “a powerful message to every child in New Jersey,” is an important step forward in combating the bullying of young people, but even before its start date the backlash was already underway. Critics say the law is too burdensome for teachers, too expensive for school districts and will spawn too many lawsuits. But here’s why New Jersey should ignore its critics and press ahead – and other states should follow its lead.

The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights was enacted as the state was still reeling from the death of Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University. Clementi committed suicide last September after his roommate allegedly took a video of his romantic encounter with a man and streamed it on the Internet.
(Watch TIME’s video on bullying and being yourself.)

The state responded by indicting Clementi’s roommate on hate crime charges, but it also did something more far-reaching: legislators drafted a law requiring its public schools to adopt extensive anti-bullying policies. Forty-seven states already have anti-bullying statues on the books (New Jersey had a weaker law in place earlier) but the new law goes far beyond what most others require. Among other things, New Jersey schools must carry out extensive training of staff and students; appoint safety teams made up of parents, teachers and staff; and launch an investigation of every allegation of bullying within one day.

These particulars are important, but perhaps the most significant thing about the New Jersey law is the strong message it sends. Other states’ laws have similar aims, but lack the same rigorous oversight and quick response mechanisms that New Jersey is putting in place. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights unambiguously puts the state, school officials, and law enforcement on the side of the victims – and it puts bullies on notice.
(Read “Seth’s Law: Can a Bullied Boy Leave California a Legal Legacy?”)

New Jersey’s law was overwhelmingly popular when it was proposed: only one state legislator voted against it. But now that it is being implemented, critics are attacking it as too demanding and too costly. In a recent New York Times article headlined BULLYING LAW PUTS NEW JERSEY SCHOOLS ON SPOT, school officials complained that the new law imposes excessive requirements while not providing needed resources.

The critics’ concerns are not entirely trivial. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights has a lot of rules, including 18 pages of “required components.” Training staff will be a lot of work, and it will be expensive for cash-strapped school districts. Making matters worse, any estimate of extra costs, in terms of demands on existing staff and possible need for outside consultants, is difficult: even the New Jersey’s legislature’s own fiscal estimate ducked the issue.

Read about gay teens sueing Minnesota school district over bullying policy.

The law also contains a good deal of language that will be challenging to interpret. It defines bullying as, among other things, creating a hostile educational environment “by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.” When does a schoolyard jibe or a mean comment in the cafeteria cross the line? It will require some thoughtful interpretation.

The law will also, necessarily, thrust school officials into the tricky area of policing student expression, including statements made off campus. This puts schools in a bit of a bind: in several recent rulings, federal courts have reminded schools that they must respect the free-speech rights of their students, even when that speech is harsh or provocative. New Jersey’s law pushes schools in the opposite direction, requiring them to monitor and police certain kinds of speech.
(Read “When Bullying Turns Deadly: Can It Be Stopped?”)

There is, however, a broad answer to these concerns: effective anti-bullying laws are worth the trouble. Bullying is a serious national problem, and Clementi is far from the only student in recent years believed to have taken his life over it. Last year the parents of Sladjana Vidovic, a Croatian student attending high school in Mentor, Ohio, sued after their daughter hanged herself. Sladjana is one of five students in Mentor to kill themselves in a little more than three years after allegedly being bullied.

Of course, there are countless instances of bullying every year in which the victims do not kill themselves, but are nevertheless greatly affected. They drop out. They turn to drugs or alcohol or run away from home. Or they simply suffer in silence.

The bipartisan and near-unanimous support for the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights in the state legislature shows how united New Jerseyans are in the belief that stronger steps must be taken to combat bullying. Even if implementing the law is not easy, it is clearly something the citizenry wants done.
(Read “The Tricky Politics of Tween Bullying.”)

Critics of the new law are also complaining that it will open the floodgates to lawsuits. The New Jersey Lawsuit Reform Alliance has charged that the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights essentially gives trial lawyers “a blank check to sue school districts on behalf of bullied children.”

This concern, too, is overblown. The fact is, even before New Jersey adopted its new law, the state allowed many victims of bullying to sue. In 2007, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a student bullied for his perceived sexual orientation could sue his school district under the state’s general anti-discrimination law.

There may be kinks to work out in the new law, but the big picture is that New Jersey is putting itself out in front nationally on the issue of bullying – and standing firmly with the victims. That is the right place to be.

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New Jersey Takes Strong Stance Against Bullying

7 Jan

Gov. Chris Christie signed the “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” into law Thursday, which advocates say makes New Jersey the state with the strongest stance against school bullying in the nation.

The law, which includes specific provisions for cyber-bullying or bullying through text messages, the Internet, or social media, addresses loopholes in a previous anti-bullying measure passed in 2002. Under the new law, schools in New Jersey are required to report, investigate and resolve bullying issues within a 10-day deadline. Schools will also be equipped with an anti-bullying specialist and team and will be graded for anti-bullying efforts that will be made public.

“New Jersey is in the forefront of historic change and the rights of our students to go to school free of harassment,” said Frank Vespa-Papaleo, an attorney who helped develop the policy.

The bill was signed into law just days after a sixth-grade boy allegedly posted threats on Facebook to shoot and bomb his classmates at Thomas A. Edison Central Six School in West Orange.

But Dr. Anthony Cavanna, superintendent of West Orange schools, said the township already has an effective system in place to tackle bullying.

“We deal with bullying appropriately and even had a reporting mechanism before the law even required it,” he said. “There are many programs at different levels that address bullying and how to deal with it, such as the leadership programs at the high school that train mentors and work directly with students.”

When the student from Edison allegedly posted four death threats on Facebook that were directed toward his classmates, school officials worked with the West Orange Police Department, informed parents and organized cyber-bullying sessions, according to Cavanna.

“They reacted well to the incident,” said Liz Hughes, a West Orange resident with three children in the school system. “As a whole, West Orange has a fabulous anti-bullying program, they’re very thorough … I feel very secure as a parent in this district.”

For Hughes, the new law would “reinforce thoroughness” and “bring everyone on the same page.”

“You always want to be on the side of preventing and not reacting,” she said. “It would be nice to know you’re bringing students in and out of your district with the same understanding. It will make it a very solid foundation for everyone.”

The unidentified sixth-grader, who made the threats, was arrested Monday, but was not charged and was released to his parents, according to West Orange police. He does, though, face a 10-day suspension and a mandatory psychological evaluation. Police said when the incident occurred, they did not believe the boy posed a credible threat to other students and determined it to be a hoax.

West Orange Board of Education President Megan Brill said West Orange is “really ahead of the curve” and that the law will help raise awareness.

“We were surprised to see a sixth-grader with such a strong opinion with wanting to hurt (someone),” she said. “That kid, and kids like him, need to understand there are serious consequences and specific laws that are going to punish kids that even say they want to hurt somebody.”

The law’s “multifaceted approach” that involves parents, administrators, teachers and outside professionals that provide training, create “many different layers that work together,” said Vespa-Papaleo. “It helps it sets forth time lines, it creates actual requirements for what school districts must do and it also, for the first time, lays out a significant amount of training.”

Under the new law, the provisions do not just apply within school boundaries, but off school grounds — on buses, cyberspace and during extracurricular activities — if the incident carries over to the school.

“Now it’s clear and unequivocal that a school district must stop (bullying), even if it’s occurring over technology,” said Vespa-Papaleo.

The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights arose after more than a year of research by advocacy groups and a government-assigned task force on bullying and came on the heels of recent incidents that reflected a growing trend of cyber-bullying.

“This bill sadly inspired by the tragic death of (Tyler) Clementi, really put some specific regulations and consequences to the ant-bullying policy,” said Assemblyman and former West Orange Mayor John McKeon (D-Essex), a sponsor of the bill.

In September, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge supposedly after a sexual encounter with another male was caught on his roommate’s webcam and streamed live. Two Rutgers students are charged with invasion of privacy. Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton, face up to five years in jail if convicted. Ravi is out on bail and Wei has been released on her own recognizance.

The bipartisan bill passed in November with a significant majority in both the Assembly and the Senate.

“It requires the schools to pay attention, they can’t ignore the issue,”  said Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex), a sponsor and major advocate of the bill. “It requires training and requires the formation of a school safety team, which their responsibility is to respond to the incident.”

More than 160,000 children a day do not go to school for fear of being bullied, according to the 2009 Report of the New Jersey Commission on Bullying in Schools.

The 2009 National School Climate Survey by GLSEN found that in-school victimization not only leads to a feeling of insecurity in school, but hinders academic success and motivation. Students also are likely to miss more days or school or certain class periods, according to the survey.

“This is the kind of thing that will not only bring comfort to scores of vulnerable individuals, but will save lives,” said McKeon.