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Bullying Prevention Policy
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PeaceBuilders supports state lawmaker policies to bring bullying
out from the shadows. Dedicated to ensuring every child has a safe learning environment, PeaceBuilders
working hand-in-hand with California legislators on four landmark bills. The proposed legislation
works to establish proactive school policies that decrease violent, aggressive behavior, and increase
positive, peaceful behavior.
AB 746 (Campos) – Pupils: Cyberbullying
AB 746 will ensure children are protected from cyber-bullying.
Bullying used to be confined to the school yards. The advances in technology
have increased children's ability to bully and so the problem has been
magnified.
Our social media culture reaches our youth and we must ensure the laws to protect
them do as well.
Suicide now ranks third, behind only accidental death and homicide, as the cause of
death for those 16-19 years old. Recently a number of teen and youth suicides have
been linked to cyber-bullying activities through social media networks.
Under AB 746:
- The definition of an "electronic act" would be expanded to include a post on a social network site.
- A post on a social network site would be covered under the Education Code as a bullying act.
AB 9 (Ammiano) - Bullying Prevention
AB 9 is an important piece of legislation that puts school safety first by
creating strong and clear anti-harassment policies and programs.
Research has shown that student misconduct can be reduced when everyone knows
what constitutes misconduct, who to report it to and how to address it. AB 9
does that by providing California schools specific tools to prevent bullying and
create a safe school environment with all students.
This legislation prioritizes school safety and implements necessary protections
for students against bullying and harassment based on: sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability and
religion.
Under AB 9:
- Every school district in the state would create strong anti-harassment policies and programs;
- Clear compliant procedures would be required to ensure all reports of harassment and bullying are taken seriously and addressed promptly;
- Schools would communicate to the students, staff and parents about the harmful effects of bullying and harassment on the individual victims of bullying, as well as on the entire school community.
AB 1156 (Eng) - Pupils: Bullying
AB 1156 expands the definition of bullying, linking it to academic performance as well
as requires schools personnel take bullying prevention trainings.
In 2008, nearly 30 percent of boys and girls in seventh grade reported they had been afraid of
being beaten up at school at least once. In a recent special issue of the
Journal of Early Adolescence, UCLA psychologists found that academic performance
was substantially worse for students who were bullied compared to their peers.
Under AB 1156:
- Teachers, administrators and other school site personnel will engage in bullying prevention training;
- Students will able to switch schools or school districts if they are bullying victims;
- The definition of bullying will be changed by specifying that it includes causing a detrimental effect on the student's physical or mental health, with academic performance or with the ability to participate in school activities.
SB 919 (Lieu) – School Safety: Sexting
SB 919 will ensure children are protected from being bullied by "sexting" or
lewd electronic photos electronically.
Bullying used to be confined to the school yards. The advances in technology
have increased children's ability to bully and so the problem has been magnified.
Today's youth casually send sexually explicit photographs of themselves to their
boyfriends or girlfriends - without considering that it can be harmful and hurtful.
Under SB 919:
- "Sexting" will be a topic that will be included in school safety programs;
- School districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies and
agencies serving youth are encouraged to work together to implement programs that
will: improve school attendance, reduce school crime including vandalism, drug
and alcohol abuse, gangs, hate crimes and bullying – including "sexting."
Check out these resources at the California Department of Education website.
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