On National Stop Bullying Day, Cicilline Co-Sponsors Bills to Stop School Bullying

Congressman Lends Support to Third Eye Project on National Stop Bullying Day

WASHINGTON, DC– Responding to the serious impact of bullying and cyberbullying on young people, U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) announced his co-sponsorship of a series of federal measures to prevent bullying and cyberbullying.

“Bullying and harassment in our nation’s schools have become a national concern for students, educators, and parents alike,” said Congressman Cicilline. “An unsafe school environment, including one made unsafe by daily bullying and harassment, is a major contributor to the drop-out problem. As we move closer to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, we need to fix our national drop-out problem  and a major contributing factor to that is preventing and responding to incidents of bullying and harassment.”

Issues surrounding bullying were highlighted when President Obama shed light on the issue in a national workshop with Burrillville student, Brandon Greene. The purpose of the press conference was to describe some of the efforts across the country to prevent and deal with bullying and to remind people that bullying shouldn’t always be considered a “rite of passage.” Greene was chosen to participate in the national workshop with the President because of his efforts to track bullying rates which has now evolved into a school-wide organization.

“A growing body of research supports what educators already know: preventing and responding to bullying and harassment helps to address many of the educational issues our nation is concerned with – including promoting school safety and improved student achievement,” Cicilline further commented.

To supplement local efforts in Rhode Island to combat bullying, and to respond directly to constituent requests for the Congressman to curb bullying, Congressman Cicilline is co-sponsoring the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the bipartisan Student Non-Discrimination Act. Both pieces of legislation are intended to help schools and school districts develop and improve anti-bullying and anti-harassment initiatives.

This legislation is supported by a wide variety of national organizations. Congressman Cicilline has also co-sponsored the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act of 2011.

Earlier this week, Cicilline joined his fellow co-chairs of the Equality Caucus in a congressional briefing on bullying meant to educate and inform congressional staff about the growing problem of bullying and to provide insight from the standpoint of the victim as well as what is being done in the courts.