Gerratana Votes To Strengthen Anti-Bullying Bill

State  Sen.  Terry Gerratana (D-New Britain) today voted to strengthen Connecticut’s existing anti-bullying laws by supporting a bill that adds electronic “cyberbullying” to the list of prohibited activities as well as expanding the number of mandatory school reporters and the responsibilities of school districts.

Senate Bill 1138, “AN ACT CONCERNING THE STRENGTHENING OF SCHOOL BULLYING LAWS,” passed the Senate today on a unanimous and bipartisan vote. It now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

Among its many provisions, the bill expands the types of conduct that constitute school bullying and the situations where it can occur. It expressly identifies as bullying:

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  • any targeting of a student based on the student's actual or perceived “differentiating” characteristics, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, or physical appearance, and;
  • actions taken through electronic communications or devices that otherwise qualify as bullying and are known collectively as “cyberbullying.”