Four years after vetoing an anti-bullying bill passed by the City Council, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday announced the school system is enacting its own regulations to combat young thugs – including those who taunt fellow students electronically.
“Bullying can take a formidable toll on the ability of our students to learn,” the mayor said at a press conference with Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
“It can be so intimidating that some students stay away from school altogether.”
The regulations issued by Klein require every principal to designate a staff member to whom students can report incidents.
Schools have to report the data to the Department of Education within 24 hours, and teachers would be trained to spot harassment.
Intimidation isn’t limited to face-to-face contacts. “Electronically transmitted acts” on cellphones, via the Internet or through handheld devices could also trigger an investigation.
In 2004, an anti-bullying bill passed by the council resulted in a court fight, with the mayor arguing successfully that legislators didn’t have the right to tell him what to do at the Department of Education.
“That’s the job of the chancellor,” Bloomberg said yesterday. “We never disagreed with them on the intent.”
In a September 2004 interview on WRKS radio, the mayor was quoted as saying the council’s bill was “silly.”
“You cannot [expect] the teachers or the principals to follow some script,” he said back then. “They are professionals, and you have to leave it up to them to do it.”