Tougher Policy on Bullying Proposed

Md. Bill Addresses Online Behavior

The effort to combat bullying by teens in Maryland's public schools and on the Internet would be strengthened under legislation being considered by state lawmakers at the request of a Montgomery County high schooler who was tormented by her peers when she came out as a lesbian.

A state law might never end teenage teasing: a nasty look here, a snub there. But some in the General Assembly want to tighten school enforcement policies for more serious physical and emotional offenses and cyber-bullying, which national research suggests is escalating as students take to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Del. Craig L. Rice (D-Montgomery) introduced a bill this week that would require school officials to set new standards for investigating complaints and discipline students accused of bullying their peers on school grounds and the Internet. Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) said she intends to file the same bill in her chamber.

"The problem is expanding exponentially," Rice said. "What used to be a bullying incident amongst six people in a high school hallway has now evolved into a national broadcast, a global broadcast, on the Internet."

Rice said he was inspired to file his bill by the experience of a Montgomery high school student who was harassed by her female classmates, in person and on MySpace, after she came out as gay. The student, whom Rice declined to identify, met with him in Annapolis in the spring and asked for his help.

"She said: 'Is there something you can do about this? They're bullying me and teasing me. It's not right,' " Rice recalled.

Rice's bill is an extension of the Safe Schools Reporting Act, passed in 2005, which requires public schools to report instances of bullying. More than 2,000 incidents of bullying were reported in Maryland public schools in the 2005-06 school year, compared with 1,000 the previous year.

In a national study about a year ago, researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that 9 percent of children ages 10 to 17 who were surveyed had experienced some form of cyber-bullying.

Bullying on the Internet has grown "out of control," King said.

"Kids can do it without having to do it in person and without a face to it, so they become bolder and do things they wouldn't actually do in person," King said.

Carrie Evans, policy director for the gay rights group Equality Maryland, said it supports Rice's bill. "The intention of school is to learn and graduate instead of having to deal with being harassed or beat up because they're gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender," she said.

The bullying issue has received attention from lawmakers in both political parties. A Republican introduced a bill in the House yesterday that would levy a $500 fine and misdemeanor charge on those who harass others on social networking Web sites. The bill's author, Del. Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel), said the state imposes the same fine and charge on people who send harassing e-mails.

Kipke pointed to news reports of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who committed suicide after receiving several hate messages on her MySpace page.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said he supports Rice's bill in theory but has not studied the details.

"I do think that the school systems -- and they've done a pretty good job at this, quite candidly -- have done everything they can to curb bullying," Busch said. If Rice "can find a way that can help lessen intimidation through the Internet, I think it's a positive thing."

But school officials said principals and teachers could find it difficult, if not impossible, to discipline students who are harassing their peers on the Internet.

"We have some concerns about being asked to police things that don't happen on the school grounds," said Bill Reinhard, spokesman for the Maryland State Department of Education. "It's a difficult thing."

Reinhard said Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and others are reviewing the details of the bills and have not formed an opinion about them.