ELIZABETH, New Jersey - August 31, 2011 - Under a new state law in New Jersey, lunch line bullies in the East Hanover schools can be reported to the police by their classmates through anonymous tips to the Crimestoppers hot line.
In Elizabeth, children, including kindergartners, will spend six class periods learning, among other things, the difference between telling and tattling. At North Hunterdon High School, students will be told that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to bullying: if they see it, they have a responsibility to try to stop it.
But while many parents and educators welcome the efforts to curb bullying both on campus and online, some superintendents and school board members across New Jersey say the new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, reaches much too far, and complain that they have been given no additional resources to meet its mandates.
The law, known as the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, is considered the toughest legislation against bullying in the nation. Each school must designate an antibullying specialist to investigate complaints; each district must, in turn, have an antibullying coordinator; and the State Education Department will evaluate every effort, posting grades on its web site. Superintendents said that educators who failed to comply could lose their licenses.
“I think this has gone well overboard,” said Richard G. Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. “Now we have to police the community 24 hours a day. Where are the people and the resources to do this?”
The law also requires districts to appoint a safety team at each school, made up of teachers, staff members and parents, to review complaints. It orders principals to begin an investigation within one school day of a bullying episode, and superintendents to provide reports to Trenton twice a year detailing all episodes. In Elizabeth, antibullying efforts will start in the classroom, with a series of posters and programs, including role-playing exercises.
“The whole push is to incorporate the antibullying process into the culture,” said Lucila Hernandez, a school psychologist. “We’re empowering children to use the term ‘bullying’ and speak up for themselves and others.”
Ed. Note: Another socialistic piece of trash. You cannot legislate behavior. You only create more criminals by attempting to do so.
