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What House Bill
116 does about bullying
Melissa Martin, Ph.D.
In 2012, Governor Kasich signed into law House Bill 116 (also known as
the "Jessica Logan Act") in memory of a student who committed suicide
due to bullying via texting and sexting. Jessica Logan was an
18-year-old student at Sycamore High School in Cincinnati. She sent a
nude photo of herself to her boyfriend. When their relationship ended,
he launched the nude picture into cyberspace. The Cincinnati Enquirer
reported the photo was sent to teenagers in several Cincinnati-area
high schools. Students called her a slut, whore, and skank, according
to www.courthousenews.com. Logan hanged herself in July 2008 after
being bullied and harassed relentlessly by classmates.
The United States court system defines sexting as “an act of sending
sexually explicit materials through mobile phones.” The messages may be
text, photo, or video.
Why do teen girls sext? A study found that 40 percent do it as a joke,
34 percent do it to feel sexy, and 12 percent feel pressured to do it.
Additionally, 11% of teen girls ages 13 to 16 have been involved with
sending or receiving sexually explicit messages. Visit
www.dosomething.org and www.guardchild.com.
House Bill 116 expands Ohio's current anti-bullying law to prohibit
harassment by electronic methods. This includes harassment,
intimidation, and bullying through computers, cell phones, or other
electronic devices.
Ohio School districts must revise anti-bullying policies to prohibit
bullying on school buses and to provide for the possibility of
suspension of a student responsible for harassment, intimidation, or
bullying by an electronic act (i.e., cyberbullying).
Ohio School districts' anti-bullying policies must include a strategy
for protecting a bullying victim or other persons from new or
additional bullying, including a means by which a person can report an
incident anonymously.
Ohio School districts' anti-bullying policies must include a statement
prohibiting students from deliberately making false reports of bullying
and a disciplinary procedure for any student responsible for
deliberately making a false report.
Ohio School districts must require all students in the district to be
provided annually with age-appropriate instruction (as determined by
the board of education) on the board's anti-bullying policy, including
a written or verbal discussion of the consequences for violating the
school's policy.
Once per school year, school districts must send a written statement
describing the anti-bullying policy and consequences for violations to
each student's custodial parent or guardian. This can be sent
electronically or with report cards.
Ohio School districts must include training on the anti-bullying policy
in its in-service training program for child abuse prevention or
intervention required for all teachers, administrators, counselors,
nurses, and school psychologists. Visit
www.ohioschoolplan.org/03-13-12.html.
All public school districts in Ohio are mandated by law to file
Bullying Incident Reports which include occurrences of bullying as well
as reports of intimidation and harassment. The school districts
must also have a published policy providing details of how they plan to
handle various types of bullying which they are alerted to.
It’s important for parents to keep apprised on how their child’s school
is following House Bill 116. Talk with school staff at the beginning of
each school year about anti-bullying projects and programs for
students. Partner with the school and support bullying prevention.
Volunteer to be on a parent committee to discuss bullying prevention
and intervention. Seek input from your kids and their friends about
bullying.
Parents need to consider whether a camera on their child’s cell phone
is necessary. One click and a nude photo enters cyberspace. Talk to
both your daughters and your sons about sexting before you give them
electronic devices. And keep talking. Be proactive. Tell them the story
of Jessica Logan.
Dr. Missy, Ph.D., is a feelings helper, child therapist, play
therapist, and child trauma therapist. She provides therapeutic
services at Affirmations, Columbus, Ohio.
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