Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, I, C – Batavia) is co-sponsoring legislation to create the Anti-bullying Bill of Rights. The bill seeks to end harassment and bullying not only on school grounds, but offers protection to children and faculty at home as well.

“The technological advancements made in recent decades have made bullying and harassment more pervasive than ever,” said Hawley. “This legislation marks clear guidelines for what is considered unacceptable behavior in an effort to end the malicious conduct that emotionally and physically devastates countless schoolchildren in Western New York. Bullying is a gravely serious issue that puts lives at risk, and state government must do everything in its power to prevent and end this scourge.”

The legislation seeks to protect students and faculty from harassment by:

• Prohibiting bullying behavior in every school’s code of conduct;
• Providing a mechanism to report bullying with reasonable suspicion;
• Expanding conduct codes dealing with civility, citizenship and character to encompass bullying issues; and
• Creating the crime of aggravated harassment of teachers and school personnel.