Parents of bullies beware: New Jersey lawmakers want to hold you accountable for the action of your children.
Parents and guardians in the Garden State could be held civilly liable if they’ve shown willful or deliberate disregard in supervising a minor in their care who’s guilty of harassment or cyber-bullying, according to legislation that began to make its way through the Legislature on Monday.
The bill would also increase the penalty for parents who skip out on court-ordered cyber-bullying classes or training for them and their minor under the age of 16.
The proposal, “Mallory’s Law,” is named after 12-year-old Mallory Grossman, who committed suicide in 2017 after being routinely bullied.
“School bullying is killing our children,” state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Morris, said in a statement.
“Bullying is preventable and addressable, so we shouldn’t have to just tolerate or accept it. ‘Mallory’s Law’ is recognition that stopping the culture of bullying requires a multi-faceted approach that involves students, parents, teachers, and school administrators,” Pennacchio, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, added.
Pennacchio made the statement after the legislation cleared a state Senate panel Monday. The bill still needs to be voted on by the full Senate and the Assembly before it would head to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.
“Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14, a figure partially attributable to cyberbullying,” state Sen. Patrick Diegnan, D-Middlesex, another prime sponsor, said.
In addition to holding parents and guardians more responsible, the bill (S3433) would expand the bullying reporting process to include additional officials at schools, as well as a school resource officer if there is one.
It would also require that school superintendents and parents of students involved in an incident by notified in the event there’s a third incident of bullying — including cyber-bullying.
Currently, if a parent or guardian of a minor under 16 skips out on a court-ordered cyber-bullying training or class as result of an incident they have to pay $25 for the first offense and $100 each other time they don’t attend a session. The new legislation would increase the penalty to $100 for the first offense and $500 for each subsequent breach of the order.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
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