Senate Bill sb2988

    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                      SR 2988

    By Senator Aronberg





    27-1953A-04

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ____

  2         A resolution commending the achievements of

  3         SUPERB and its founders, Jeremy and Sharon

  4         Ring, in reducing the incidence of bullying in

  5         school communities.

  6  

  7         WHEREAS, according to a 2001 survey funded by the

  8  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,

  9  bullying is widespread in schools throughout the United

10  States, with more than 16 percent of school children saying

11  they were bullied by other students during the 2000-2001

12  school term, and

13         WHEREAS, according to the School Psychologist

14  Association, 160,000 American youth skip school every day for

15  the fear they will be victimized by bullies, and

16         WHEREAS, according to researchers, bullies and their

17  victims are more likely than others to develop depression and

18  suicidal thoughts, and are at a high risk of becoming felons

19  and domestic abusers, and

20         WHEREAS, according to a study by the National Threat

21  Assessment Center administered by the United States Secret

22  Service, two-thirds of the 41 youth involved in school

23  shootings since 1974 said they had been bullied at school and

24  revenge was one of their motives for harming others, and

25         WHEREAS, Students United with Parents and Educators to

26  Resolve Bullying (SUPERB) is a program founded by Jeremy and

27  Sharon Ring and teaches students, educators, and parents how

28  to work together to eliminate bullying behavior, and

29         WHEREAS, SUPERB is a program that is embraced by

30  community leaders because it seeks to identify bullies and

31  

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2004        (NP)                      SR 2988
    27-1953A-04




 1  victims and to change behavioral standards that allow bullying

 2  and interpersonal violence to occur in schools, and

 3         WHEREAS, in September 2003, SUPERB launched a pilot

 4  program in six elementary and middle schools within the

 5  Broward County Public School System, the third-largest

 6  accredited school system in the nation, and

 7         WHEREAS, SUPERB's pilot program is intended to teach

 8  children early in life that teasing, tormenting, and

 9  subjecting others to violence is not acceptable social

10  behavior, with the goal of eliminating such behavior in

11  schools, reducing the incidence of violent crimes against

12  persons in school communities, and decreasing the adverse

13  consequences suffered by those who engage in or who are

14  victimized by such behavior, NOW, THEREFORE,

15  

16  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

17  

18         That the Senate commends SUPERB and its founders,

19  Jeremy and Sharon Ring, for their invaluable contributions in

20  designing and implementing a comprehensive program to reduce

21  the incidence of bullying in the schools of this state.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.