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Fourteen states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahome, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia) have passed laws concerning bullying. Most recognize bullying as a legitimate problem and direct public schools to develop programs to prevent and/or deal with bullying.
In Indiana, a bullying law was introduced in the 2004 state Legislature by State Sen. Tom Wyss (R-Fort Wayne). The bill overwhelmingly passed the Senate but failed to come up for a vote in the House.
The law, Senate Bill 231, defined bullying as "overt, repeated acts or gestures, including: (1) verbal or written communication transmitted; (2) physical acts committed; (3) any other behavior committed by a student or group of students against another student with the intent to harass, ridicule, humiliate, intimidate or harm the other student."
It also allowed the use of grants from School Safe funds to provide education and training of school personnel, required the inclusion of anti-bullying training in school safety specialist education and required each school to establish a school safety committee.
The bill was supported by Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed, who said, "The consequences of bullying are far-reaching, ranging from lower attendance and student achievement to increased incidence of violence and juvenile crime. Children who bully are more likely to become violent adults, while victims of bullying often suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem and depression well into adulthood. ... The financial (and psychological) costs of bullying and violence to victims are staggering."
After passing the Senate, SB 231 was referred to the House Education Committee, where it passed unanimously. But it was not placed on the Legislature's calendar for a second reading, nor was it sent to the House Ways and Means Committee.
