January 19, 2012

 

 

 

 

Sen. Tim Cullen has drafted legislation to address bullying that occurs through text messaging and social media.

 

Known as “cyberbullying,” harassment via social media and texting can cause students to fear going to school and has led to violence and teen suicides.  Last week, a Madison girl was beaten in a shopping mall parking lot after being threatened by the offender on Facebook.

 

Last session the Legislature passed a bill that requires school districts to adopt a policy defining and prohibiting bullying, but bullying by electronic means was not explicitly included.  Cullen’s bill adds cyberbullying to the statutes. 

 

“Social media and text messaging give kids new avenues to harass and terrorize their peers,” Cullen said.  “This bullying and intimidation can lead to physical attacks on the victims and a fear by the victims of attending school.  In some cases, victims of cyberbullying took their own lives.  My bill encourages schools to specifically address the problem of cyberbullying and to intervene.”

 

Cullen’s bill contains four components.  First, the bill requires school districts to create a definition and prohibition of cyberbullying.

 

Second, the bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to add to its model school policy on bullying a requirement that school districts maintain records on the number and types of bullying reports made and the sanctions imposed.  The model school policy must also contain a requirement that school districts prepare an annual summary report, present the report to the school board, and post it to the district’s website.  Currently, schools currently may feel they cannot do anything about cyberbullying if it does not occur on school grounds or at school functions.

 

Third, the model school policy must include a statement that bullying incidents that occur off school grounds are subject to investigation and sanctions if such incidents “create a hostile environment at school for the student, infringe upon the rights of the student at school, or disrupt the education process or orderly operation of a school”

 

As under current law, school districts are required only to adopt a definition and prohibition of bullying.  They are not required to adopt the model school policy, although many districts do use the model school policy as the basis of their school policy.

 

Fourth, the bill updates the statute relating to unlawful use of computerized communication systems to include messages posted on social media sites that are intended to frighten, intimidate, threaten, abuse or harass another person.

 

“I’ve heard from students, parents and teachers who have seen how devastating cyberbullying can be,” Cullen said.  “Comments posted on social media can be extremely humiliating and intimidating and I don’t think our school officials should look the other way.  When bullying hurts a student’s ability to learn, somebody has to intervene.”

 

Cullen said he heard from one high school student in his district whose classmates posted lewd photos and comments about her sexuality on her MySpace page.  She deleted her MySpace page, and the next day one of the perpetrators punched her in the face at school while the others watched.  The perpetrator was punished for hitting the girl, but the principal said nothing could be done about the cyberbullying.  The incident made her afraid to be at school, she said.  The cyberbullying began when she was in eighth grade and continues into her junior year, the girl said.

 

“I shared this girl’s story with a UW-Eau Claire professor who is co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center, and he said this story is far too common and prevalent.  I hope that my legislation encourages everyone to take this problem more seriously and to help the victims,” Cullen said.