BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: March 16, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
ACR 22 (Hueso) - As Amended: March 10, 2011
SUBJECT : California School Bullying Prevention Awareness Month
SUMMARY : Declares the month of March as the California School
Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings that include the following:
a) School bullying has become an increasingly significant
problem, with an estimated eight percent of pupils in
kindergarten through grade 12 missing at least one day of
school every month due to a fear of being bullied.
b) Bullying can take many different forms, including
verbal, physical, psychological, and electronically; and is
a public health problem that leads to depression and low
self-esteem well into adulthood.
2)Resolves that the Legislature declares March 2011 to be the
California School Bullying Prevention Awareness Month and
urges California schools to discuss the issue of bullying and
the methods to prevent it using appropriate activities during
this time.
3)Resolves that the Assembly Chief Clerk transmit copies of the
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Encourages school districts, county offices of education, law
enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop
and implement interagency strategies, in-service training
programs, and activities that will improve school attendance
and reduce school crime and violence, including vandalism,
drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership, gang violence, hate
crimes, bullying, including bullying committed personally or
by means of an electronic act, teen relationship violence, and
discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to,
sexual harassment.
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2)Prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of
a pupil from school unless the principal determines that the
pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including,
bullying, including but not limited to bullying by means of an
electronic act, as defined.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : The American Psychological Association defines
bullying as a form of aggressive behavior in which someone
intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or
discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact,
words or more subtle actions. A nationally representative survey
conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD), finds that approximately 30 percent of
American schoolchildren in grades six through 10 have been
bullied or have bullied other children "sometimes" or more often
within a semester. According to the author, bullying
contributes to youth violence, including homicide and suicide.
The author also states that studies show that adult and peer
intervention reduce bullying incidents and that the best way to
protect students against bullying is to establish programs that
create awareness through education, training, and best practice
methodologies.
In September of 2007, the National Association of Attorneys
General (NAAG) Task Force on School and Campus Safety released a
report that includes specific recommendations to address school
safety issues. Recommendations from the Task Force included a
recommendation for states to "continue to implement and expand
bullying prevention measures, including cyber bullying." The
report stated, "Bullying was recognized as an important issue in
examining school violence. The growth in the use of technology
and social networking sites by younger Americans has fueled a
fear among professionals that cyber bullying will become the
means most often utilized to harass, threaten or otherwise cause
distress. And while certainly more prevalent in the elementary
and secondary school setting, issues related to bullying or
intimidation are increasingly relevant in other nontraditional
settings."
According to information provided by the author, the White House
called for a conference on bullying prevention in March and the
author's plan was to introduce this resolution as Bullying
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Prevention Awareness Week to coincide with the President's
conference. But because the conference has already passed, as
it took place on March 11, 2011, the author decided to change
the resolution to declare March 2011 as California School
Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. This resolution urges
California schools to discuss the issue of bullying and the
methods to prevent it using appropriate unspecified activities.
The National Bullying Prevention Center, a project of the Parent
Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER) developed the
National Bullying Prevention Month campaign in the United States
in 2006 and has been held during the month of October. The
campaign had typically been held during the first week of
October and in 2010 it was expanded to include activities,
education and awareness building for the entire month. The
campaign came in response to the need to raise awareness of
bullying and its devastating effects such as school avoidance,
loss of self-esteem, increased anxiety, and depression. The
campaign reached out to education based organizations such as
the National PTA, the American Federation of Teachers and the
National Education Association to provide schools, parents and
students with resources to respond to bullying behavior and to
address the issue of bullying through education and support.
This campaign and has been recognized as an annual event in the
month of October.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087