Sen. Angela McKnight, a Democrat from Jersey City, poses for a photo with Bill and Elizabeth Reid from the Jack Reid Foundation. In 2022, their son, Jack, took his life after bullying while attending a private boarding school. Since then, his parents created the Jack Reid foundation and have dedicated themselves to legislative protections against bullying for private school students. Photo credit: Jayden Parente/NJ State House News Service.
By Jayden Parente
NJ State House News Service
TRENTON, N.J. – October would become “Bullying Prevention Month,” under a raft of anti-bullying measures moved unanimously Thursday by a Senate committee.
“Bullying Prevention Month” across the state would annually remind students of the damages that both online and in-person bullying can cause, as the possible legal ramifications.
In addition to creating the prevention month, lawmakers weighed a bill, S253, which would broaden the legal definition of school “harassment, intimidation or bullying.”
However, witnesses from a variety of organizations, such as the New Jersey School Board Association and New Jersey Association of School Administrators, testified against the bill, citing worries of legal language and redundancy with existing protections.
“Arguments, name calling, exclusion, teasing, offensive comments and other inappropriate conduct may not constitute [harassment, intimidation, or bullying] but can still warrant disciplinary action,” said Melanie Schulz, director of Government Relations for the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
“You call it misconduct, to a child, they call it bullying,” said Sen. Angela McKnight, a Democrat from Jersey City who sponsored the measure.
The committee voted 5-0 to move the bill, as well as a measure that would extend bullying protections to private schools.
Bill and Elizabeth Reid testified together Thursday about how their son, Jack Reid, took his life in a dorm at the Lawrenceville School as a result of bullying in 2022.
The “Jack Reid: Protect All Students Act” would require private schools to adopt policies to prevent and protect students from bullying and cyberbullying.
“I wish we didn’t have to be here, I know our son is with us and I hope that sadly the loss of his life will save many others. In many ways I feel him here. This is what he would want.” said Elizabeth Reid said in an interview after her testimony.
New Jersey is not the first state to consider the “Jack Reid: Protect All Students Act.”
Last year, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed similar legislation alongside the Reids. New Jersey is the second state to consider the law, according to the Jack Reid Foundation.
The committee moved a total of six anti-bullying bills Thursday.
Some others include bill S175, which would establish the “Anti-Bullying Youth Council” to work alongside the existing, statewide nti-Bullying Task Force. Bill S4102 would require schools to establish policies for reporting harassment, intimidation and bullying online through the school’s official website. Bill S4457 would requires that schools include anti-bullying awareness as part of the state’s learning standards. These three measures moved unanimously.
Jayden Parente is a journalism student at Rowan University with a concentration in writing.
