Two members of the General Assembly have translated their concern for bullying into legislation in the House of Delegates. The two bills (House Bills 1575 and 1576) may have flaws but the target of their aim is indisputably deserving. Bullying can turn a school and its classrooms into a nightmarish prison for the person being bullied.

Both legislators are aware of the Virginia teenager who committed suicide last year, the young man's mother saying her son had been bullied at school and that school officials had done little to help. An investigation by law enforcement officials determined no laws had been broken. One of the proposed bills would create such laws, with the potential, in the most severe cases, of up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Victims would have the legal right to sue those who have bullied them.

House Bill 1576 defines bullying as “recklessly or intentionally endangering the health or safety of a student by exposing the student repeatedly, and over time, to physical aggression or intimidation, whether through direct physical contact or through the use of information or communication technology, resulting in bodily injury or other harm to person or property.

Del. Adam Ebbin told the Washington Post that it was “outrageous” that bullying which led to a student's suicide would not be considered criminal conduct.

The second bill, sponsored by Del. David Englin, seeks to help school officials and teachers more ably address bullying. Indeed, teachers would be trained how to deal with bullying and be required to report bullying and intervene when a student is being bullied. House Bill 1575 also widens the scope and definition of what would be considered bullying. The bill's proposed language states that “'bullying, harassment or intimidation' means intentional conduct, including verbal, physical, or written conduct, or an intentional communication motivated by an actual or perceived personal characteristic including race, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ancestry, physical attributes, socioeconomic status, familial status, or physical or mental ability or disability that (i) creates a hostile educational environment by substantially interfering with a student's educational benefits, opportunities or performance, or with a student's physical or psychological well-being; or (ii) is threatening or seriously intimidating.

“Bullying, harassment, or intimidation includes (i) conduct that occurs on school property, at a school activity or event, or on a school bus; (ii) conduct that occurs elsewhere but that substantially interferes with a targeted student's educational benefits, opportunities or performance, or with a targeted student's psychological well-being, while the targeted student is on school property, at a school activity or event, or on a school bus, because of the presence of the perpetrator; or (iii) conduct that substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a school,” the legislation states.

Many parents will find it particularly gratifying that the legislation includes bullying that occurs on school buses.

There is no doubt that bullying, wherever it occurs, is an extremely serious problem that can damage lives and, in the most extreme case, cause the victim to take his or her own life. The two members of the House of Delegates are right to seek additional means to effectively address the devastating bullying that does occur in schools across Virginia.

Bullying can cause irreparable harm to a young person's emotional and psychological development and well-being, a burden they carry, successfully or not, throughout their lives. But the bully, too, would benefit from effectively dealing with the motivations for their bullying and putting an end to such behavior before lives, including, perhaps, their own, are ruined. Every student benefits from an atmosphere free from bullying, where education takes center stage and includes the teaching, by example, that violence against individuals is not tolerated.

When we learn that as children, we know it as adults.

The legislation would require school boards to include, in their codes of student conduct, prohibitions against bullying, harassment and intimidation and, crucially, “procedures to separate the perpetrators of such behavior from their targets in a way that ensures that the targets of such behavior are not effectively punished, including being deprived of benefits or opportunities that they otherwise would enjoy.”

In addition, any principal or school administrator who fails to comply with the procedures set out in the code of student conduct “shall be subject to discipline.”

Treat bullying more seriously and it will be taken more seriously by all involved.

As it should be.

As it must.

-JKW-