Albany Targets Cyber Bulling in Schools

Following suicides, beatings and assaults on teenagers’ self-esteem, New York is seeking to prevent school bullying done through the Internet and texting.

New York state Senate Republicans, joined by students from Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, N.Y., announce legislation designed to stop bullying, cyber bullying and hazing among New York schoolchildren during a news conference at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. on Tuesday, May 4, 2010. Speaking at center is Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie. (AP Photo/Tim Roske)

Several bills are pending in the Senate and Assembly by Democrats and Republicans. They include an Assembly bill that would make hazing, a specific form of bullying, a felony when there is serious injury or death.

Republicans in the Senate minority on Tuesday proposed a package of bills that propose no felonies, but seek to compel schools to address, investigate and report bullying.

Sen. Kemp Hannon, a Nassau County Republican, says New York is one of just eight states that don’t specifically outlaw cyber bullying.

“While schoolyard bullying is not a new phenomenon, technology has heightened the unrelenting and egregious acts of bullying and cyber bullying,” said Sen. Stephen Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican.

Bills sponsored by the Assembly’s Democratic majority include one to direct the state education commissioner to create rules to prohibit harassment, intimidation and bullying of students and another specifically prohibiting bullying by “electronic communication.”

Senate Republicans seek laws to require schools to discourage bullying and cyber bullying enforced by suspension, expulsion and other school discipline and requiring school employees to report incidents or potentially face a misdemeanor.

Posted Tuesday, May 4, 2010

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