(Page 3 of 3)
In addition, the bill lays out procedures for schools, including provisions for anonymous reporting of bullying incidents; timetables to report incidents to parents, school officials and, if necessary, law enforcement; and discipline procedures for schools that fail to investigate and also for false reporting of bullying.
The bill, which applies only to traditional public schools, also requires schools to provide training for its employees on bullying, and requires schools to give age-appropriate lessons on bullying prevention for all students in grades one through 12 by Oct. 15 of each school year.
James Todd, a retired Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department sergeant, told senators he worked in the department’s education unit, spending time in every school system in Marion County.
“Bullying was a problem in every system that we worked in,” Todd said. “Some districts tried to deal with it directly. And some just let it go until it erupted into violence.
“I wish that we had had House Bill 1423 in those days,” Todd said, saying it would have given schools a clear definition of bullying while requiring administrators to confront bullying as a serious impediment to education.
“There has been much talk lately about making our schools safe,” Todd said, referring to efforts in Indiana and other states to deal with the threat of gun violence. “Talk is cheap. This bill in its original form would actually help create safer schools.”
Todd referred to “its original form” because supporters Wednesday were alarmed that an amendment, offered by Kruse and backed by conservative activists, would render the bill meaningless.
Tracie Wells, director of Bully Safe Indiana, said, in fact, that supporters might rather see the bill die than become law with changes that would water down the definition of bullying and the provisions that spell out how schools must respond.
Wednesday, no one testified against the bill. But former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman, who was among those who helped draft the bill using language that already is law in 35 other states, said conservative groups expressed concerns that it infringed on First Amendment rights of free speech and religion.
Newman said the concerns were unfounded.
“It was such a modest bill that identifies bullying problems and allows for prevention and training,” Newman said. “That’s it. But people decided to take that on, and they said their concerns are the First Amendment.”
To combat those fears, the supporters had their own amendment drafted, spelling out that nothing in the anti-bullying language interferes with participation in religious events, or the exercising of First Amendment rights.
The committee adopted that amendment, while rejecting the one, offered by Kruse, that supporters felt would have diluted the bill.
Newman said his world changed the day of the Columbine High School killings 14 years ago.
“I realized the whole bullying phenomenon . . . was much more lethal than anything I was used to,” he said.
Newman said he began looking more deeply into what was happening in the schools, and how they were responding.
