Report to be Discussed at HELP Committee Field Hearing on Strategies to Prevent Bullying
WASHINGTON, D.C.—(ENEWSPF)—June 8, 2012. Yesterday, U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Robert Casey (D-Penn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), released a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on school bullying and strategies that federal, state and local governments are using to reduce the incidence of bullying, and legal options federal and state governments have in place when bullying leads to allegations of discrimination. The study was conducted at the request of Harkin, Casey, Franken, and Kirk, and its findings will be examined tomorrow at a HELP Committee field hearing in Des Moines, Iowa on how local, state, and federal policies can promote bullying-free environments for students.
“Children in our schools need to be able to learn in a safe, open environment that is free from bullying and harassment,” said a spokesperson for Senator Kirk. “The GAO report and the upcoming field hearing will help to bring awareness to the severe and widespread consequences of this issue and will encourage schools to think creatively on developing more effective prevention and response protocols.”
“Bullying is a widespread problem in our schools, and this report makes clear that we must do more to meet the needs of our students,” said Harkin. “Bullying has serious consequences, leading to lasting psychological and physical harm for many children and reducing achievement in school. I commend GAO for their examination and recommendations, and I hope that this report will help raise awareness of the problems in our schools, as well as some of the policies we can implement to make sure our kids have a safe and healthy learning environment that supports learning and achievement.”
“Every child deserves a quality education in a safe environment, but too many students face bullying and harassment every day in schools across our Nation,” said Casey. “Unfortunately, those who are most vulnerable also lack adequate protections under the law. Congress should take act to fill this gap and help schools take the necessary steps to keep all students safe.”
“This report further confirms the need for a law to protect our children from anti-gay bullying and discrimination,” said Franken. “My Student Non-Discrimination Act would protect LGBT children from bullying in the same way that kids are already protected from bullying because of their race, gender, disability, and religion. I hope my colleagues take this new information to heart and join with the White House and the 37 other Senators who are currently supporting the bill so we can finally pass a law to protect some of our nation’s most vulnerable children.”
The GAO report found:
- Bullying can have serious impacts on victims. Four surveys from 2005-2009 found that 20-28% of youths reported being bullied in school.
- 49 states have instituted school bullying laws, but many do not identify any protected classes or demographic groups, such as race and sex or gender.
- Federal civil rights laws provide limited protection against bulling, since they do not cover certain vulnerable groups (i.e. students who are bullied on the basis of their sexual orientation or socioeconomic status)
- The Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice have established coordinated efforts to research and educate the public about bullying, and distributed information about how federal civil rights laws can be utilized to address bullying of protected classes of students.
The report also included the following recommendations:
- Federal agencies should acquire more information about state civil rights laws and legal options for victims of bullying, and more data on the demographics of bullied students.
- Federal agencies should provide more information about state-level protections that exist.
- More work needs to be done to determine whether legal protections in place for these groups at both the state and federal levels are adequate.
Source: kirk.senate.gov
