State Rep. Mike O’Brien this week introduced a bill that seeks to strengthen the state’s anti-bullying law and is modeled after New Jersey’s recently adopted law, considered the toughest in the nation.
O’Brien’s HB 879 was introduced March 1 and is still being circulated for cosponsorship.
O’Brien noted that while the state enacted a 2008 anti-bullying law that requires schools to create anti-bullying policies, that law “sets almost no standards for ensuring the performance of their policies and provides no guidelines on implementing a successful policy. My legislation would provide the specificity and clarity needed to better protect our kids.”
The bill calls for each school to lay out stricter definitions of bullying, behavioral codes and consequences for violations of their policies, along with creating and publicizing a comprehensive reporting and investigative procedure for complaints. In response to incidents of bullying, the measure would call for all schools to offer a range of counseling, support and intervention services, and would mandate that all policies stipulate that retaliation for reporting bullying is prohibited.
The bill would further extend the definition of bullying to acts that are committed off school grounds that disrupt the orderly operation of the school or the rights of students.
In January, O’Brien also introduced a measure, along with 22 cosponsors, that would add bullying to the state Crimes Code and set down criminal penalties for violators — such as a third-degree misdemeanor charge for repeat offenders who are minors, and the same charge for the first offense for those over 18.
Pennsylvania’s anti-bullying law does not cite specific classes, such as sexual orientation and gender identity, in its definition of bullying.
HB 879 would allow for victims to file a complaint with the state Human Relations Commission if they were targeted for belonging to a specific protected class delineated in the Human Relations Act, which does not currently cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].