State legislators are breathing new life into the landmark Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights.
The Legislature recently passed a law allocating $1 million to the Bullying Prevention Fund to help school districts implement the anti-bullying measures, which were implemented in 2011 but were struck down in a January ruling by the state Council on Local Mandates.
“I am proud that we were able to quickly and effectively determine a working solution to problems that have arisen in the implementation of this legislation so that we can continue to protect the physical and emotional well-being of our children,” said state Sen. Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex. The new legislation was sponsored in the state Assembly by Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Patrick Diegnan Jr. (DMiddlesex), and in the Senate by Buono and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen).
The Council on Local Mandates’ ruling stated that portions of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, which has been described as the strictest and most comprehensive antibullying legislation in the country, represented an unfunded mandate. The ruling gave state lawmakers 60 days to come up with a solution before the law would be in danger of coming off the books.
“I’m pleased that everyone was able to come together to reach a practical solution that puts the safety and well-being of our students first,” said Diegnan. “Every student should be entitled to go to school and learn in an environment free of harassment, intimidation and bullying. Helping schools implement this new law will help us better achieve that goal.”
Under the new law, the state Department of Education will be in charge of awarding grants from the Bullying Prevention Fund to individual school districts to finance antibullying and prevention training and to help cover related personnel expenses.
Prior to applying for a grant, districts must demonstrate that they have exhausted any free alternatives available.
The law also establishes a seven-member Anti-Bullying Task Force to help schools navigate the available resources and aid in the implementation and review of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights.
Old Bridge interim Superintendent of Schools Tim Brennan said his district will be applying for a share of the newly available funds to bring Project Challenge, a program that takes students through simulations of bullying and how to respond, to the township’s two middle schools.
Among the roughly 250 bullying or harassment reports filed in the district since the anti-bullying law was instituted in September, Brennan said there was a recurring trend of the students who were engaging in bullying or harassing behavior not being aware of the effect of their actions on other people.
“We decided that a major direction we want to take our HIB [Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying] program in is raising awareness about how your words and actions affect other people,” he said.
Project Challenge is one way to achieve that goal, but at $27,000 for both middle schools, Brennan said, “It would be something difficult for us to take out of our budget now.”
In East Brunswick, teaching and support staff participated in all-day training over the summer in the Olweus Program, a comprehensive bullying-prevention program designed for elementary through junior high school students.
In addition, students in all of the district’s schools participated in Rachel’s Challenge, a program dedicated to Rachel Scott, the first student killed during the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Starting with a multimedia presentation and leading into interactive training sessions with students and adults, the program aims to motivate students to make a positive impact on their schools and each other.
“Bringing Rachel’s Challenge to our schools at this time was a reminder to our educational community and further encouraged everyone to treat others with respect in an environment free from harassment, intimidation and bullying,” East Brunswick Superintendent of Schools Jo Ann Magistro said.
“Responses and comments on the program from students and adults have been very positive. We look forward to watching the chains of kindness that were started in each of the schools grow,” she said.
For Brennan, even with its flaws, the state’s anti-bullying law is helping to usher in new ways of thinking about how students interact with teachers and each other.
He said his district wants to target the middle school level and increase the faceto face acknowledgment of what it feels like to be picked on.
“We human beings are a lot more delicate than we think each other are,” he said.
Contact Adam Joseph Drici at [email protected].