Take Action During PA Bullying Awareness Month: Urge State Reps to Vote YES on SB 850!

Please see this urgent message from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape:

In light of alarming statistics related to physical and emotional bullying, the Pennsylvania Senate has marked October 2011 as "Bullying Awareness Month," encouraging schools and parents to talk with youth about bullying—and in particular, cyberbullying. Often characterized as harmless by youth who don't have to interact with their peers on a face-to-face basis, cyberbullying can cause as much emotional pain and trauma as its physical counterpart.

PA Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R-12) proposes to address cyberbullying through Senate Bill 850, which would assure that youth who engage in intentionally harmful behavior toward their peers receive court intervention and that youth who are victims of cyberbullying are not criminalized, thereby sparing them from further emotional harm.


Conversely, House Bill 815—which Juvenile Law Center opposes, and which is in the Senate Judiciary Committee—creates no distinction between an individual who is victimized by cybercrime and someone who shares electronic images with the intent to coerce or harm another individual.


Senate Bill 850 passed unanimously in the PA Senate on October 19 and is now in the House Judiciary Committee for consideration. Juvenile Law Center worked with legislators to ensure the passage of this important bill. It not only aims to protect victims of cyberbullying, but would also ensure that juvenile defendants have attorneys in court and, upon conviction, are placed in the least restrictive environment that meets their needs.


Juvenile Law Center commends Senator Greenleaf for taking a stand to protect children and encourages you to call your Representative and urge him or her to vote YES on SB 850. To find out who your Representative is and how to contact him or her, click here.


For more information on SB 850, click here.