(The Center Square) – The Arizona State Senate recently passed Senate Bill 1508, which attempts to address bullying in schools.
The Senate voted 17 to 12 March 5 in favor of it. Sen. Rosanna Gabaldón, D-Tucson, did not vote.
Last week, SB 1508 was assigned to the state House Rules Committee.
SB 1508 says school district boards must define bullying and cyberbullying.
The bill says bullying can be an act or a pattern of acts “by one or more students that is directed at another student, that exploits an imbalance of power.”
These imbalances of power include written, verbal or electronic expressions.
The power imbalances would have to have occurred on school property, a school-sponsored activity, a school-related activity or a school district vehicle.
If a student experiences physical harm, mental health distress, property damage or fear of harm due to power imbalances, it is considered bullying under the legislation.
SB 1508 states that cyberbullying must have occurred through a communication device such as a telephone, cell phone, computer or the internet. The communication would have to have happened during school, a school-sponsored activity or a school-related activity.
Communication will be considered cyberbullying if it affects the student’s educational opportunities or disrupts the classroom or school-related events.
SB 1508 is also known as “Andrew’s Bill” after Andrew Harstad, who committed suicide in 2022 after being bullied at school.
Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Deer Valley, who sponsored SB 1508, told The Center Square that she met with Harstad’s parents and attorney last year.
Harstad’s parents sued Chandler Unified School District for wrongful death after their son committed suicide due to the bullying he received while at school. However, a judge said the school district could not be held liable for their son’s death.
“ He was one of the many casualties that we have in our public schools who were being bullied and cyberbullied,” Bolick explained.
The state senator said Arizona has “a lot of issues” occurring in its public schools.
“ I think that’s another component of one of the problems of the kids. Using intimidation through social media against their counterparts,” Bolick said. “The goal of if you’re sending your kid to school should be learning, not worrying about what someone’s saying about you [or] what they’re doing on social media.”
Bolick said her daughter was sexually assaulted in school when she was 12 years old. The state senator added that her daughter was bullied and cyberbullied after the incident.
“ A lot of parents don’t know what they should do, so I think putting it back to the schools to put together the policy and then enforce [it] is probably a better step, so we can go in and get rid of the nonsense that goes on sometimes in our schools that leads to bigger problems,” Bolick said.
According to the senator, if Arizona schools don’t have a policy, then rogue administrators could potentially do things they are not supposed to do, possibly harming families and children.
Bolick said she wants to make sure Arizona schools are protecting kids.
A 2023 national survey showed that almost 50% of parents had moved their kids to a different school due to bullying or safety-related concerns.
