PRINTER'S NO. 2065
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
428
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY KINSEY, BOBACK, DONATUCCI, FREEMAN, SIMS, MILLARD,
COHEN, TAYLOR, NEUMAN, BISHOP, V. BROWN, HENNESSEY, BURNS,
VEREB, READSHAW, CALTAGIRONE, DiGIROLAMO, MACKENZIE, ROZZI,
KIM, SCHLEGEL CULVER, SONNEY, KIRKLAND, YOUNGBLOOD, THOMAS,
DAVIS, LONGIETTI, C. PARKER, WATSON, SCHREIBER, GOODMAN,
ROSS, SCHWEYER, MARSICO, McNEILL, FARINA, McCARTER, D. COSTA,
STURLA, MAHONEY, DEASY, MAJOR, SCHLOSSBERG, PAYNE, GINGRICH,
GIBBONS, ROEBUCK, FRANKEL, PETRI, BIZZARRO, MILNE, BRADFORD
AND HELM, JULY 22, 2015
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
JULY 22, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Designating the month of October 2015 as "Bullying Prevention
Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania to help Pennsylvanians work
to recognize bullying, stop bullying and gain the tools
needed to appropriately deal with situations involving
bullies.
WHEREAS, A recent United States Department of Health and
Human Services study shows that 28% of students in grades 6-12
have experienced bullying and 20% of students in grades 9-12
have experienced bullying; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice states that
37% of all students do not feel safe at school; and
WHEREAS, Bullying can be verbal, physical or via the Internet
and can severely affect the victim's self-image, social
interactions and school performance, often leading to
insecurity, lack of self-esteem and depression in adulthood; and
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WHEREAS, School dropout rates and absences among victims of
bullying are much higher than among other students; and
WHEREAS, Studies have shown that children who have been
identified as a bully by eight years of age are six times more
likely to have a criminal conviction by 24 years of age; and
WHEREAS, Children who are bullies may continue to be bullies
as adults and are more prone to become child and spouse abusers;
and
WHEREAS, Information about bullying suggests that there are
three interrelated reasons why students bully, including strong
needs for power and dominance, satisfaction in causing injury
and suffering to other students and reward for their behavior
with material or psychological rewards; and
WHEREAS, Bullying can take on many forms, including
derogatory comments and bad names, social exclusion or
isolation, hitting, kicking, shoving and spitting, lies and
false rumors, having money or other things taken or damaged,
being threatened or being forced to do things and forms of
racial, sexual and cyber bullying; and
WHEREAS, Bullying is done by both girls and boys; and
WHEREAS, At first glance, many people may think bullying
behavior is easy to define as solely physical aggression, but,
while that can still be considered bullying today, bullying
behaviors can be much more complex and varied than the
stereotype; and
WHEREAS, Harmful bullying can occur quietly and covertly,
through gossip or on the Internet, causing emotional damage; and
WHEREAS, Although definitions vary from source to source,
most agree that an act is defined as bullying when the behavior
hurts or harms another person physically or emotionally and the
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targets have difficulty stopping the behavior directed at them
and struggle to defend themselves; and
WHEREAS, Many definitions include a statement about
imbalance of power, described as when the student with the
bullying behavior has more power, either physically, socially or
emotionally; and
WHEREAS, Many definitions also include the types of bullying,
including overt bullying, with physical behaviors, such as
fighting, hitting or name calling, and covert bullying, with
emotional-social interactions, such as gossiping or leaving
someone out on purpose; and
WHEREAS, When students experience bullying there are effects
that can last long into their future, including depression, low
self-esteem, health problems, poor grades and suicidal thoughts;
and
WHEREAS, It might be hard to tell the difference between
playful teasing and bullying, but they are not the same thing;
and
WHEREAS, Teasing usually involves two or more friends who act
together in a way that seems fun to all the people involved and
they often tease each other equally, but it never involves
physical or emotional abuse; and
WHEREAS, It is also important to note that bullying is not
just about the implications for those targeted by the behaviors,
but that the behavior can impact all students in the school,
including those who witness the behavior and those who engage in
the behavior; and
WHEREAS, Students who bully can have a wide-ranging impact on
the students they bully, students who observe bullying and the
overall climate of the school and community; and
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WHEREAS, When bullying continues and a school does not take
action, the entire school climate can be affected in many ways,
including the school developing an environment of fear and
disrespect and students having learning difficulties, feeling
insecure, disliking school and perceiving that teachers and
staff have little control and do not care about them; and
WHEREAS, The Office for Civil Rights in the United States
Department of Education and the United States Department of
Justice have stated that bullying may also be considered
harassment when it is based on a student's race, color, national
origin, sex, disability or religion; and
WHEREAS, The effects of bullying can be just as harmful to an
adult's emotional health as to a child's emotional health; and
WHEREAS, Bullying can last well into adulthood, and instead
of the playground, the abuse is most likely to occur in the
workplace; and
WHEREAS, According to a 2011 workplace survey, more than 41%
of American workers have experienced some form of workplace
bullying in the past year; and
WHEREAS, Many adults find themselves emotionally tormented by
fellow employees, neighbors, aggressive friends and even their
spouses; and
WHEREAS, The effects of bullying, regardless of age, can be
extremely psychologically damaging; and
WHEREAS, Harassing behaviors may include unwelcome conduct
such as verbal abuse, including name calling, epithets, slurs,
graphic or written statements, threats, physical assault or
other conduct that may be physically threatening, harmful or
humiliating; and
WHEREAS, There is no Federal law that specifically applies to
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bullying, rather, when bullying is based on race, color,
national origin, sex, disability or religion, bullying overlaps
with harassment and schools are legally obligated to address it;
and
WHEREAS, "Bullying Prevention Awareness Month" is a month-
long effort that encourages everyone to take an active role in
the bullying prevention movement; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
month of October 2015 as "Bullying Prevention Awareness Month"
in Pennsylvania to help Pennsylvanians work to recognize
bullying, stop bullying and gain the tools needed to
appropriately deal with situations involving bullies.
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