On March 12, the Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed an anti-bullying bill, making Massachusetts the 42nd state to do so. Later, on March 18, the bill was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives.
The bill extends the definition of bullying to include cyber bullying and covers bullying both on and off school premises. Schools are required to draft bullying prevention and intervention plans. Employees of the school are required to notify the principal in they event they witness bullying. Principals are required to discipline the perpetrator and notify both the victim’s parents as well as the perpetrator’s parents.
Initially the bill to be discussed by the House of Representatives was criticized because it left out some of the provisions of the bill passed by the Senate. However, after a three-hour long debate it was amended to include the provisions that had earlier been dropped.
The House’s bill still differs from the bill passed by the Senate. The two bills will have to be reconciled by Governor Deval Patrick.
Support for anti-bullying legislation was sparked by the suicides of Phoebe Prince, 15, in South Hadley in January and Carl Walker-Hoover, 11, in Springfield last April, after they were both bullied in school.
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