Sunday, October 27th, 2013 @ 1:51PM

To read the official press release click here.

Press Release
Contact: Robb Kahl
608-266-8570

For Immediate Release
Monday, October 14, 2013

Representative Robb Kahl Lauds Bi-partisanship on Anti-Bullying Legislation

(MADISON) While Wisconsin residents are none too happy with the government shutdown in Washington, the Wisconsin State Senate Committee on Education demonstrated that the political parties can work together.   On October 10th the Committee unanimously voted to pass Senate Bill 184.     The bill, which updates anti-bullying laws to include cyber-bullying was authored by State Senator Tim Cullen (D-Beloit) and State Representative Robb Kahl (D-Monona).
“I want to thank the Senators on the Education Committee for working together to pass this bill.   It was truly a bipartisan effort,” Kahl stated.  “While I have introduced an Assembly version of the bill, it is my hope the full Senate takes up the bill as soon as possible and then sends the bill over to the Assembly.”
While Wisconsin does have legislation related to bullying, that legislation does not address the cyber-bullying that can occur in today’s society – especially with the emergence of social media.   Since cyber-bullying does not necessarily originate within the school, current law needed to be modified to better enable schools to respond.
“I also want to acknowledge the work of State Senator Neil Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) two sessions ago in recognizing the need for our state to address bullying when he authored current law,” Kahl noted.   “His work laid the foundation and this bill is a bi-partisan effort to build upon that work by ensuring bullying by electronic means is defined in the law and prohibited.
This bill addresses bullying that occurs through text messaging, social media, and other electronic means, and that may occur away from school grounds.  This bill requires the Department of Public Instruction to add the following statement to its model school policy on bullying: that bullying by electronic means, even if it occurs off school grounds, may be subject to investigation and sanctions if such incidents create a hostile environment at school for the pupil being bullied or disrupt the orderly operation of a school or school-related event.
The bill also updates the statute relating to unlawful use of computerized communication systems to include messages posted on social media sites that are intended to frighten, intimidate, threaten abuse or harass another person.
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Categories: 2013 Press Releases, Press Releases
Tags: 47th Assembly District, bullying, Robb Kahl, Wisconsin