Antibullying Bill Goes to the Governor
By ISOLDE RAFTERY
Published: June 23, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/nyregion/24bully.htmlState Senator Thomas K. Duane was among the legislators on Wednesday who praised the passage of the Dignity for All Students Act, an effort to reduce bullying in New York public schools.
Assemblyman Daniel J. O'Donnell, who has spearheaded the bill for the last five years, said the notion that bullying was part of growing up and that "kids will be kids" was archaic.
"That leads to suicide and it leads to death," Mr. O'Donnell said. "There was a case in California where a transgender kid was murdered. So clearly, bullying escalates. What we're trying to do is nip bullying in the bud."
------------------------
New York state Senate passes anti-bullying bill
From Julie Cannold, CNN
June 23, 2010 8:52 p.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/23/new.york.anti.bullying.bill/New York (CNN) -- The New York state senate passed passed an anti-bullying bill Tuesday night to protect all students from discrimination, including that based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The state assembly had already passed the bill -- as it had eight times previously in the last 11 years -- and Gov. David Paterson is expected to sign it into law. Bill sponsor Sen. Thomas Duane said it will be "the first time protections for our transgendered community will be enshrined in New York law."
-----------------
New York State Passes Anti-Bullying Law
by Kilian Melloy
Wednesday Jun 23, 2010
http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=107201The New York state senate has passed a measure to combat bullying in public schools. The state senate passed the bill, called the Dignity for All Students Act, with bipartisan support and by an overwhelming margin of 58-3. The state assembly had passed the measure in May, with a similarly definitive margin of 138-4. The measure's lead sponsors were state Sen. Thomas Duane and Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell.
The bill penalizes bullying motivated by bias on a number of fronts, from weight to gender to sexual identity and expression. The bill also covers race, religion, national origin, and disability. The measure also mandates development of policies to prevent and to deal with bias-motivated school violence and hate, training for school staff and administrators, and the introduction of appropriate material into classroom curricula, including discrimination awareness. The bill also requires that incidents of bias-motivated bullying be reported to the state education department.
