BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2536
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2536 (Chau)
As Amended May 31, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |6-1 |O'Donnell, Kim, |Olsen |
| | |McCarty, Santiago, | |
| | |Thurmond, Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |19-1 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
AB 2536
Page 2
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SUMMARY: Adds to the definition of bullying via an electronic
act "sexual bullying" and requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to include information on sexual bullying on the
California Healthy Kids Resource Center Internet Web site and
other appropriate CDE Internet Web sites where information about
discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying is posted.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "sexual bullying" as the dissemination of, or the
solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or
other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to
school personnel by means of an electronic act with the
purpose or effect of humiliating or harassing a pupil.
Specifies that a photograph or other visual recording shall
include the depiction of a nude, semi-nude, or sexually
explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where
the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual
recording, or other electronic act.
2)Specifies that "sexual bullying" does not include a depiction,
portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic,
educational, political, or scientific value or that involves
athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee,
minor/absorbable costs to the CDE to update the CDE's Internet
Web site to include information on sexual bullying.
AB 2536
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COMMENTS: Under existing law, a principal or a superintendent
may suspend or recommend expulsion of a pupil for committing any
of a number of specified acts, including bullying and bullying
via an electronic act (cyberbullying). "Bullying" is defined as
any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct,
including communications made in writing or by means of an
electronic act, and including one or more acts committed by a
pupil or group of pupils engaging in sexual harassment, hate
violence, harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed toward
one or more pupils that has or can be reasonably predicted to
cause fear and have an impact on a student's physical and mental
health, academic performance, or a student's ability to
participate in school and school activities.
Bullying via an electronic act is the transmission of a
communication, including, but not limited to, a message, text,
sound, or image by means of an electronic device, including, but
not limited to, a telephone, wireless telephone or other
wireless communication device, computer, or pager. Prior
versions of this bill added "sexting" to the definition of
cyberbullying. Amendments adopted by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee changed the term "sexting" to "sexual
bullying."
The author states, "A joint study by the National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and CosmoGirl found that
20% of teens (ages 13-19) and 33% of young adults (ages 20-26)
had shared a nude or semi-nude picture by text or online
posting. Teen girls were slightly more likely to do so than
boys, and 11% of young teen girls (ages 13-16) said they had
sent suggestive photos of themselves. While some view sexting
as a new norm of adolescent sexuality, the act itself exposes
teens to acts of bullying or harassment when their intimate
images are taken without their knowledge or disseminated without
their consent. Unfortunately, some teenagers have committed
suicide because of the effect of sexting."
AB 2536
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Harassment, discrimination, intimidation and bullying can create
a school climate of fear and disrespect that can result in
conditions that negatively affect learning. What may start out
as consensual may turn into bullying if an image is shared by
one party or if a third party shares a private image. This
occurred in 2009, when an Ohio teen hanged herself after being
harassed by classmates who circulated a nude photo she had sent
to a boyfriend. In a similar situation in late 2009, a
13-year-old girl in Florida also hanged herself after being
bullied and harassed when a topless photo of herself she sent to
a boy was spread by another girl to others within her own school
and to nearly schools. Both girls reported being called names
and taunted by classmates. In Newtown, Connecticut, three
students were arrested in January and accused of involvement in
a sexting ring. Sexually explicit images and videos of other
students were circulated, sometimes for money. CNN reported
that law enforcement credited school officials for their quick
action that contained the spread of explicit media.
Sending a nude image in and of itself may have legal
implications, but does not necessarily constitute an action
leading to suspense or expulsion. Under current law and the
definition established by the bill, the sharing of an image is
one that is intended or leads to harassment that affects a
student's ability to engage in school.
Opposition of the bill state that they oppose "expansion of the
Education Code to punish and exclude a student because
exclusionary methods of school discipline are ineffective."
They believe that schools should focus instead on alternative
methods of discipline that are less punitive in order to change
behaviors, such as restorative justice practices. Current law,
under Education Code 48900.5, already requires suspensions to
AB 2536
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occur only after alternative corrections have been attempted.
This bill does not change that.
Prior versions of this bill would have required instruction on
sexual health to include information on sexting. Amendments
adopted by the Assembly Appropriations Committee struck that
provision of the bill and instead require the CDE to post
information on sexual bullying on its Internet Web site.
Current law requires CDE to display and update information on
curricula and other resources that address bias-related
discrimination, harassment intimidation and bullying on the
CDE's California Healthy Kids Resource Center on its Internet
Web site. This bill expands this requirement to include sexual
bullying.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0003298