State House lawmakers are struggling to find a way to help schools deal with bullying among school-age children.
Republican Rep. Dan Truitt of Chester County says he’s not sure schools are taking bullying seriously, given the way they’re responding to existing state mandates.
"Our current state law requires school districts to report incidents of bullying to the state just in terms of the numbers, how many incidents they had," he said. "And a number of them, about 200 school districts, report none at all."
Truitt has proposed legislation to require districts to develop more comprehensive plans to respond to cases of bullying.
A number of educators say they’re uneasy about implementing such policies without the state setting down clear guidelines.
One advocate from a group representing parents of children with disabilities said bullying should be defined by what “hurts and harms.”
