HB384

After testifying today and hearing other speak, I came to the realization that the Department of Health and Human Services is using this bullying bill to try and get more Juvenile Probation Officers. If I heard correctly today, it was stated that 95 percent of the CHINS referrals in 2024 were from truancy issues and NOT from bullying. Why are we finding this department for a problem that does not exist? Please do further investigation into who is asking for this money and why.

We all agree that bullying needs to stop. This bill has good intentions, but missed the mark. Day one of school, schools should provide education on bullying and every student receive a "zero-bullying policy" statement that they and their parents must sign that day and return the next. Is should include the consequences. 1st offense, detention AND rectifying the bullying with service/community service/or service that tries to make amends for the inappropriate behavior. The current principal can do this- no need to hire someone else. 2nd offense- 3 day suspension. etc For those kids that don't understand hardships of others, part of their amends can be additionally serving in the soup kitchens of that community. There are many creative ways to support the learning of no bullying, which all can build up the community at large.

The Office of the Child Advocate endorses efforts to reduce bullying in school, and supports all schools in coming up with comprehensive policies to deal with bullying within the school setting. However, this bill as currently written could have serious unintended consequences, with undefined new positions, without any qualifications or training specified, which could result in many more children being unnecessarily routed into the juvenile justice system; and, without addressing the root causes of bullying, creating solutions and strategies to be implemented within schools, or considering the traumatic impacts on children in our schools.

Bullying is one of the biggest issues in public schools. I look for ways to address this important issue, but this Bill is not the solution. I think it is the wrong solution for an ongoing problem. The language demands the bullying officer to file mandatory CHINS complaint. It requires parents to attend a mandatory course for the actions of their child. The problem that many parents report is that consequences for the bully are absent. Teachers rely on SEL or other mental health solutions from the school counselors or social workers. A bully may actually appreciate this kind of action since there are no real consequences to their actions. Parents certainly need to be part of the solution, but for many bullies, the behavior will stop when the consequence is one they no longer want to face. It does not get to what motivates bullying, and allows it to continue.

This proposes local school district concepts/definitions of bullying, local school districts penalizing bullying, and local school district imposed REEDUCATION instruction soviet style. The actual configuration of these would widely vary across the state. There is so much wrong with this bill. Why not just carve BULLY on the troubled students forehead so he is isolated and shunned?

As a former educator, I find this bill to be problematic on many levels. It continues the trend of punitive action in lieu of creating educational opportunities for students to develop their civic skills. This practice will undoubtedly affect the disabled students more as their proactive and reactive behavior can be misconstrued and can further increase their risk of being excluded from the integrated classroom setting. There are many successful programs that use restorative practice to address this issue that build empathy and community in school settings. I would like to see these practices explored and utilized in order to build a culture around understanding and addressing conflict that would have a more positive impact on school community.