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Anti-Bullying Campaign
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Columbine Massacre
On April 20th, 1999, two high school seniors open fire during school in Littleton Connecticut. At the end of the horrible assault, twelve students and one teacher lost their lives. The boys took their own lives after the assault. While little is known about Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, the murderers at hand, the assault is believed to be partly because of bullying. While bullying really has no pure beginning, no serious action was taken to stop it. This was until the Columbine Massacre. -
Georgia First to Fight
Shortly after the Columbine Massacre, Georgia becomes the first state to pass anti-bullying legislation (no exact date given). This meant that schools were required to actively participate in bullying prevention in the form of educational programs. While bullying has always been around, this was a huge step for the anti-bullying movement since it was the first event that involved associating bullying with criminality. -
STOMP Out Bullying
In 2005, the "STOMP out Bullying" program was created by Ross Ellis. The major goal of the program is to effectively reduce bullying and its various forms, such as cyberbullying and sexting. The program also implements education to raise awareness in homophobia, racism, violence in school, Not only is this program devoted to prevention, but to the care of at risk teens, peer mentoring, and public service announcements. -
California Vs. Cyberbullying
In August 2008, California passes the first law of the country against cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is harassment with the use of technology. Because technology has grown so fast up until this point, communication was made effortless. Consequently, bullying became effortless as well. Technology took off and took cyberbullying along with it. -
Suicide as a Result
In September of 2010 alone, Tyler Clementi, Billy Lucas, Harrison Chase Brown, Cody J. Barker, and Seth Walsh all took their own lives as a result of bullying. Sadly, they were all bullied for being homosexual. The most controversial case was Tyler Clementi who was secretly taped and then posted online for all his peers to view. The suicides of these four people aided in sparking the LGBT movement (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.) -
Legislation Grows
By 2010, 120 bills were effectively enacted by state legislations. These include consequences as low as education to as high as criminal justice with regards to bullying in school. 36 states now have consequences regarding cyberbullying. These legislations often include district policies, what constitues as bullying, and consequences in terms of discipline. -
Born This Way Foundation
In 2011, pop star Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanolta begin the Born This Way Foundation. Lady Gaga is famous for her active role in supporting "being different." The goal of the foundation is to raise acceptance of all people, no matter how different we all are. The foundation also stresses the importance of individuality and being who you are, not what society wants you to be. -
Entire Country Almost Aboard
Through April of 2011, 46 states have passed legislations involving anti-bullying. Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, and South Dakota are the only states without legislation against bullying. Whether it involves mandatory education programs or direct discipline, this was a huge step for the anti-bullying movement. -
Rise Against Joins the Fight
Rise Against Pays Tribute to the suicides of September 2010.
http://youtu.be/XP4clbHc4Xg -
New Jersey Cracks Down
In September, New Jersey arguably passes one of the country's harshest bullying laws to date. In this law, all bullying cases must be reported to the state. The state then releases a grade of each school based on bullying incidents and schools must implement a policy to deal with the incidents. Witnesses to bullying must also report cases as they may also face legal action.
