Lawline.com

New Jersey’s anti-bullying law, inspired by Tyler Clementi’s suicide last year, went into effect last week. As the nation’s toughest anti-bullying measure, it is already drawing fire from critics who say the law’s provisions are too burdensome for teachers and will lead to too many lawsuits. In a recent New York Times article, many school administrators complained that they are being expected to comply with the extensive demands of the law without being given any additional resources. There was also concern that making schools legally responsible for bullying would lead to lawsuits from students and parents who are dissatisfied with the results of school investigations. Another concern that has been expressed about the new law is that it contains ambiguous language that will need to be interpreted in court. For example, the way the law defines “bullying” as anything that creates a hostile educational environment, but does not clarify what behaviors “cross the line” into bullying, and which are simply mean, but insignificant.  The other legal issue at stake here has to do with students’ free speech rights; federal court rulings have upheld the rights of students to self-expression, while New Jersey’s anti-bullying law requires schools to monitor certain kinds of speech made by students.

Adam Cohen of Time magazine, however, believes that New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is a good idea, and wants to see other states adopt similar measures that send an equally strong message to bullies that the law is firmly on the side of the victim. Under the new law, New Jersey schools are required to provide staff and students with antibullying training, appoint “safety teams” and investigate every allegation of bullying within one day. According to Adam Cohen, the important aspects of New Jersey’s new law, and those which set it apart from the statutes that are in place in the 47 other states that have anti-bullying laws, are the rigorous oversight and quick response mechanisms that are being set up in New Jersey. According to Cohen, as imperfect as the law may be, it is an important step in the right direction: bullying is a big problem that often has devastating consequences and must be addressed.