Grassroots

Sunday, January 13, 2002, I got up and went to read the paper and there it was...the story that nearly knocked me over. "Searching for answers that may never come. A boy's untimely death leaves a mother with her anguish and her questions". As I read the article I became overwhelmed with emotions. I new immediately after reading the tragedy of J.Daniel Scruggs, I had to do something to stop everyone on the planet and take a good look at what was allowed to happen to this young boy... because I knew this tragedy was symbolic of millions of young boys and girls across the globe. I had already done my research and J.Daniel was the Bullycide poster child.

I put the paper down and called my life long friend Nancy, and told her about the tragedy and that I knew together we would make it happen!

We did...

...more research ...

on January 23, 2002 we published an informative article on bullying in our local paper which included notification of the establishment of AGPCAB Inc and a contact phone number. The calls streamed in!!! As predicted, ALOT of kids were being affected by bullying at school...

...on 2/15/02 we met with Nancy Pugliese, head of the Connecticut Bullying Task Force to see how we could help. We asked her how she and her 42 member force was getting bullying awareness directly to parents. Her response was that it was up to the educators to inform the parents. However, she did say one letter went out to the PTA and gave us a copy. (we can't find one parent who received the letter through their PTA or school ) She was unaware of the details of the Scruggs suicide, so we left her a copy of the article so she could catch up on things. She agreed that parent awareness is needed, but had nothing constructive to offer us. Nancy and I had the same thoughts  as we walked out the door. The magnitude of complacency exuded by this bureaucrat was clearly a detriment to every child in our public schools because it transcends onto the educators working daily with those children. She didn't attend our meeting...

...we met with the staff at the Governors Prevention Partnership for Safe & Drug Free Schools to see if we could be on the CT Bullying Task Force. No, but they did offer us their anti-bullying brochures for our upcoming meeting plus the digital template so we could produce more. (we would have to pay for anything over 50 pieces) We expressed our serious concern over the misrepresentation of the programs  being recommended to schools, in the CT Bullying Task Force Report. We discovered that the report was inaccurate. The effective school practices to address bullying section of the report used the name of criminologist Delbert Elliot and his work on the study of effective programs as an introduction to the list of programs CT was recommending to it's schools. In fact when we contacted  the direct assistant to Dr. Elliot, she said only one of the 11 programs listed was actually endorsed by Dr. Elliot as  being effective. Schools using inappropriate  and ineffective measures translates into more lives being affected by bully/victim problems and wasted tax dollars, short and longterm. They didn't attend our meeting... 

...We learned that in 2001 a grant for anti-bullying measures was made available to CT schools. $500,000 from the CT State Board of Education and another $500,000 from a New Cannan CT based foundation. Representative Mushinsky informed us that towns had to be prodded  into pursuing  the grant and that those that chose not to apply are looking the other way. This lack of pro-action told us that money is not enough...

... we published notification of our first meeting and the New Haven Register showed up and printed an article the following week on 2/24/02 covering our agenda as well as our next scheduled meeting date, March 5, 2002  and  location . Parents, children and other concerned citizens came to the March 5th meeting fom across CT. We invited the members present of the Select Committee on Children  to come to this meeting while testifying at the 2/28/02 HB5425 hearing. We also invited Senators Brian McDermott, Tom Gaffey and Representative Jim Abrams. Representative Mary Mushinsky (Wallingford) of the Select Committee on Children came and stayed for the meeting. Representative Jim Abrams (Meriden) came but only stayed about ten minutes. He had to run...hopefully not for a House Seat again! Hey, what could be more important than the children of our State?? Senators McDermott (Wallingford) and Gaffey (Meriden/Education Chair) didn't come.  

The rest, as they say, is history!! LT

Overview

This is what we -Nancy, Brendan, Denise, Laurie, Shelley, Laura, Michelle, Judy C., Richard, Marjorie, Catherine, Celeste, John, Linda, Keith, Douglas, Glen,  Kimberly, Joe, Elizabeth, Barbara, Vivian, Lisa, JoAnn, Maryann, Christine, Mary, Lou, Ann, Barbara C., Fred G.(Nancy's Dad) -for the Mary connection, the kids & all those who called and wrote their legislators- did and you can do it too!!

Organize a forum through various forms of media, including flyer distribution’s to entire school districts (Superintendent permission needed for distribution-ask a local printer if they would be willing to make copies for the cause-Cheshire, CT Mail Boxes Etc.(now UPS store) donated 7,000 copies for the cause- thanks Jim M.!!!) where concerned citizens representing different towns/cities can speak to invited lawmakers about their experiences, concerns and why they feel anti-bullying legislation is necessary. (Students attended our forum with their personal stories and parents brought pictures of their beaten children.)  Don’t forget to invite the media!!

***Our forum was in three parts. The first part was an overview of researched material explaining what bullying is, how pervasive it is, the short and long-term effects on individuals, bystanders, communities, society and effective prevention. The second part was an open discussion which included personal experiences, pictures, ideas on what the legislation should consist of, etc. The third part was commitment!

***Be sure to ask all forum attendees who wish to support anti-bullying legislation to leave their name and contact information before leaving so they may be reached to help in whichever capacity they are able. ie; writing, lobbying (the kids were super, we're really proud of them!), testifying, copying, making/delivering flyers, fact sheets, etc.

Strive to get a passionate and supportive lawmaker to commit to bringing the anti-bullying bill to life. Back the lawmaker through hearings, provide letters/stories to ALL members of legislation/Governor, lobby using powerful fact sheets , convey  personal experiences by students of various ages, parents, bus drivers, including  pictures, videos, etc .to legislators (we brought a small tv/vcr to the CT Capitol to show legislators real bullying on a school bus) until the bill is signed into law.

***Take note of the proposed bill and gather knowledge and opinions as to whether anything should be amended. Bring forth any suggestions  to the lawmaker. (Reflecting on personal experiences, current policies and other state anti-bullying laws can help.)

Remember…bullying is abuse and it kills…know it…stop it.

Bill History

HB#5425 Sponsor: Representative Truglia

HB#5425 Public Hearing 2/28/02:  (AGPCAB Inc testimony is below)

Select Committee on Children Vote -3/7/02 2:00 p.m. 11 yeas & 0 Nays & 1 did not vote (Willis)

Education Committee  Vote-3/22/02 12:00p.m (the frontpage headlines in the paper the following morning stated that the vote didn't make it in time, but we knew better and quickly called the media. The next morning's frontpage headlines were "Upon Further Review Bullying Bill Lives"  27 Yeas & 1 Nay  (Powers) Her  "Nay" actually saved the bill!>There was some confusion among Education Committee leaders and members)over whether the bullying bill had missed the committee's 3/22 deadline. The Legislative Commissioners' Office confirmed on 3/25 that the measure had been filed on time. However, the legislative commissioners said five bills that the Education Committee had approved in a bloc vote just before the 3/22 deadline were dead. The committee chairmen on 3/22 had proposed to add the bullying bill to that list of bills. However, Representative Powers, , objected and her objection turned out to be a saving grace!The Legislative Commissioners' Office disqualified the five bills that had been approved in the bloc vote. The bullying bill would have shared the same plight , but for Powers! The Education Committee had until 5p.m. on 3/22 to report bills out of committee. The five disqualified bills reached the Legislative Commissioners' Office before the deadline . But the committee did not submit a vote tally for each bill, as legislative rules require.  )   & 5 did not vote  (Aniskovich, Cardin, Diamantis, Dyson & Fonfara)

House of Representatives Vote-5/1/02 0:10 a.m.: (we were their for the vote!) 129 Yeas,  6 Nays  (Beamon, Carter, Johnston, McGrattan, Hyslop & Dyson) 12 did not vote (Fedele, Villano, Scire, McDonald, Mantilla, Lawlor, Backer, Demarinis, Eberle, Feltman, Fox & Klarides)

Senate Vote-5/7/02 8:51 p.m. (the kids were exhausted but they hung in there & waited for the vote!): 36 Yeas & 0 Nays 

Thank you to Senator Brian McDermott, you Majority Whip you!, for the "acknowledgement of our efforts speech" and the standing ovation and applause from all the CT Senators on the floor! It looked great!

Governor Rowland signed HB 5425 into law- PA02-119-on June 7, 2002 - Congratulations letter from Representative Mary Mushinsky-It's symbolic that we were not invited or notified of the signing event until it was over nor were we officially listed under the "Nature and Sources of Support" file for this law. That's okay, we're not really surprised...disappointing for the kids though. They really did a great job. Everyone has their own agenda. We're happy with ours.  

Connecticut Association of Boards of Education opposed this law. (CABE) stated, in written testimony, that the bill creates additional and unnecessary reporting which will be exacerbated by the difficulty of defining bullying. As an alternative, CABE recommended the Committee support the ongoing efforts of districts to utilize a variety of prevention programs to reduce bullying   No kidding. Sure, we knew they would have the political clout to slice & dice the bill, and they did, but they didn't get in our way. A young boy was dead, his mother was speaking out, his classmates were speaking out, we had the media on our tails and a pair of lenses  on that said "Children First" on both sides! The law was going through.

Now we have to make sure the law is enforced. This is where the real commitment comes in. We never want to be able to say what we did was for nothing and we never want anyone else to say it either! J. Daniel, you did not die in vain. 

**Lisa T. testifies before the CT Select Committee on Children: February 28, 2002

I would first like to thank the members of the committee , and specifically Representative Mary Mushinsky for inviting me to speak before you. My name is Lisa  and I am the founder of the Advocacy Group For Parents Of Children Affected By Bullying as well as the  mother of two children one of whom has suffered the devastating consequences of school bullying. I am here to comment on bill number 5425.

With all due respect to the sponsors of this bill...this legislation though conceptually a step in the right direction, appears to be searching to quantify a problem in an environment where the bullied are very hesitant to make their problems known. In fact, in order to even imagine that a true accounting can be compiled in that environment is unrealistic. Before those who are being bullied will report their pain, a climate of security and safety must be established  so that they feel they will be protected if they make such a report. The existence of the  problem at all, is a clear statement that such a climate does not exist.

Research throughout the US, and globally, that I may add is widely available, clearly proclaims the magnitude of the problem...both in volume and the impact on victims and ultimately society. And so it seems superfluous to attempt to track how often it occurs rather than to implement a requisite educational program into our schools so as to train those who populate the same classrooms and hallways where the assaults occur.

Only when a uniform implementation of a multi-level anti-bullying program inclusive of the student body, teaching and non-teaching staff, anonymous self reports evaluated by a third party with the results made public, will we be able to truly see a change and accurate measure of the seemingly social acceptance of this behavior.

In light of the well established ever increasing data revealing the seriousness and devastation that already exists, I would please ask for explanation of the reasons why you have chosen the gathering of more statistics over an immediate course of action.

As two final points, it would behoove you to take into consideration that school nurses, despite state issued licenses which mandate standards of procedure are not required by the State Board of Education to document and file any visits of children to their offices which may include physical injuries related to bullying behavior. Therefore, will automatically taint the the reporting results you are asking the individual school districts to provide. In no other health facility including veterinary clinics, is documentation of an injury, sickness, etc. void except in our public school systems.

Secondly, we respectfully invite you to attend our meeting on Tuesday March 5th at at the Wallingford Public Library at 6:30 p.m. which will be a presentation of researched facts and testimonies by parents, your constituents, of children affected by the devastation of school bullying as well as the children's painful accounts of what they have experienced  and continue to experience on a daily basis. Thank you.