Georgia governor signs beefed up anti-bullying legislation into law
Governor Sonny Perdue has signed Senate Bill 250, which strengthens Georgia’s anti-bullying laws, says WSAV-TV. The law requires parental notification for students involved in a bullying incident and directs the state Department of Education to develop a model anti-bullying policy that can be used by local school systems.
Source: WSAV-TV, 5/27/10, By Alice Massimi
[Editor’s Note: Background on the Georgia legislation is available at the first link below. In September 2009, USA Today reported that data compiled by the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) shows that 44 states have laws expressly banning school bullying; but the laws are largely ineffective and often unenforced. A summary of the article is available at the second link below.]
I think putting recognition into the bullying issue as being a very real problem is commendable. The only problem I have with this is the wording that local school systems ‘can’ use the anti-bullying policy and not, ‘will’ use the policy. This wording gives an open loophole and districts can merely say that they chose not to abide by the policy.