BILL ANALYSIS
AB 86
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Date of Hearing: January 16, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gene Mullin, Chair
AB 86 (Lieu) - As Amended: January 7, 2008
SUBJECT : Pupil safety
SUMMARY : Adds to the School/Law Enforcement Partnership program
provisions related to bullying committed by means of an
electronic communication device or system and adds a definition
of "electronic communication" for this purpose. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Authorizes conferences sponsored by the School/Law Enforcement
partnership to include information on the prevention of
bullying acts committed personally or by means of an
electronic communication device.
2)Provides that the statewide school safety cadre shall work to,
among other duties, also reduce bullying, including acts that
are committed personally or by means of an electronic
communication device or system.
3)Adds bullying committed by means of an electronic
communication device to the list of activities that school
districts, law enforcement agencies and agencies that serve
youth are encouraged to prevent.
4)Specifies that "electronic communication" means communication
in which information is transmitted by wire, radio, optical
cable, electromagnetic or other similar means.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership comprised
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Attorney
General for the development and administration of safe school
programs.
2)Requires a schoolsite council to write and develop a
comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and
resources of that particular school.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
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COMMENTS : The California Department of Education (CDE) and the
Office of the Attorney General (AG) co-administer the School/Law
Enforcement Partnership program. The Partnership has funded the
Kern County Office of Education for a five-year period to
administer the statewide School Safety and Violence Prevention
Training Grant. The grant provides for safe schools planning,
bullying prevention, and crisis response training. This
training program does not currently include prevention of
bullying that occurs via electronic communication devices.
Need for the bill : A poll commissioned in 2006 by Fight Crime:
Invest in Kids, showed that one in three teens and one in six
preteens have been victims of cyber bullying and that more than
2 million of those victims told no one about the attacks.
The author states, "As web-based social networking sites, such
as Myspace and Facebook become more and more popular,
cyber-bullying has become a problem for school districts and
youth-based organizations. Such intimidation tactics are
difficult for school districts to deal with because they happen
outside of school property and usually after school hours."
What is cyber bullying ? Cyber bullying is the use of electronic
devices and information, such as e-mail, instant messages, text
messages, mobile phones, and web sites, to send or post harmful
messages or images about an individual or a group.
In September of 2007, the National Association of Attorneys
General (NAAG) Task Force on School and Campus Safety released a
report that includes specific recommendations that address
certain school safety issues. Recommendations from the Task
Force included a recommendation for states to "continue to
implement and expand bullying prevention measures, including
cyber bullying."
The report stated, "Bullying was recognized as an important
issue in examining school violence. The growth in the use of
technology and social networking sites by younger Americans has
fueled a fear among professionals that cyber bullying will
become the means most often utilized to harass, threaten or
otherwise cause distress. And while certainly more prevalent in
the elementary and secondary school setting, issues related to
bullying or intimidation are increasingly relevant in other
nontraditional settings."
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According to a Baltimore Sun article published in November 2007,
Oregon, Washington, New Jersey and other states have introduced
bills or instituted programs designed to reduce cyberbullying.
The article mentions that "officials in a Missouri town made
Internet harassment a misdemeanor, after public outrage over the
suicide of a 13-year-old resident last year."
Prior legislation : AB 88 (Lieu) of 2007 required the California
Department of Education (CDE) to work with the Department of
Consumer Affairs to ensure that the list of resources regarding
Internet safety from the California Cyber Safety Resource Center
addresses specified criteria. Required CDE to distribute, and
make available on its Internet Web site the list of Internet
safety resources and allowed local educational agencies to
incorporate the resources into existing curricula. This bill
was placed on the Senate floor inactive file.
AB 307 (Chavez), Chapter 313, Statutes of 2006 requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, by July 1, 2007, to
develop guidelines for information regarding the safe use of the
Internet that should be included in a school district's
education technology plan.
SB 1740 (Murray) of 2006 required the SDE to develop and
maintain an Internet safety curriculum to be distributed to
school districts. The bill was vetoed. The message read, in
pertinent part:
This bill circumvents the role of the State Board of
Education (SBE) by giving the authority for the development
and dissemination of curriculum to the California
Department of Education without the approval of the SBE.
The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has already
convened the California Coalition for Children's Internet
Safety (CCCIS) and will host the first statewide Cyber
Safety Summit in October. The Summit is intended to
target, among others, parents/PTA organizations, educators,
community leaders, and child safety advocates. Prior to
developing any state wide guidelines, we should first take
the information presented at the Summit and review
recommendations from the CCCIS to ensure that any approach
to Internet safety is comprehensive and addresses the
individual needs of local education agencies. I believe
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this is a proactive, direct approach to address Internet
safety.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Teachers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087