California Bullying Laws Further Strengthened

SACRAMENTO - Nora Campos (D-San Jose) announced on July 23rd that Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1732, a bill that further strengthens anti-bullying laws. Nora Campos has been a strong anti-bullying advocate with last year's passage of Assembly Bill 746, land mark legislation which made clear that posting messages upon a social media site was covered under the Education Code anti-bullying provisions, and now this year's Assembly Bill 1732.

"To me, this bill is about making sure that we are able to preserve the childhood and adolescence of our children. All of us have encountered bullying in one form or another growing up. But, today's bullying is a steroid version of what we had to go through."

Assembly Bill 1732 adds language to the Education Code that would further empower school districts to identify cases of online bullying when dealing with a pupil who has created a "Burn Page" or "False Profile" with the purpose of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person.