Anti Harassment and Bullying Prevention Policies. ... FLORIDA HB 669 - School Safety "Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act". A++.
Because of Debbie Johnston's relentlessness, her family's significant financial sacrifices and the energized community of students, educators and legislators she mobilized, Florida's children have one of the toughest anti-bullying measures in the nation to help protect them.
The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Students Act, passed by a rarely unified Florida Legislature in 2008, requires all school districts to institute anti-bullying policies that specifically ban harassment and intimidation; create a diligent reporting procedure; require prompt investigation of allegations; and outline consequences for students and school employees who violate the policy.
Bullies also must be referred to counseling and the proper authorities, and the victims' families must be notified about what's been done to protect their children.
The point, unlike prior unsuccessful bills that were drafted like discrimination statutes, was to "take the emphasis off the victim and put it on the bully," said state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R- Fort Lauderdale, a key sponsor of the act during her time in the Florida House.
Graded "A++" and called "the BEST Anti Bullying Law written to date" by the watchdog group Bully Police USA,
