New protections for Hoosier students

With the use of social media and texting prevalent among students, concerns about cyberbullying continue to grow. Cyberbullying is bullying that happens over devices like cell phones, computers and tablets. It comes in many forms and can even cross the line into criminal behavior.

To put more protections in place for Hoosier students, I supported a new law to help prevent cyberbullying and outline how to report instances when they happen. Under the law, school corporations must explicitly prohibit cyberbullying through cell phones and other wireless devices in their disciplinary rules.

Additionally, the Indiana Department of Education will maintain a resource page with helpful information on how to reduce the impact of cyberbullying. All school corporations will also provide a link to this resource page on their websites, offering guidance to parents and school officials on how to prevent cyberbullying and ways to report incidents that occur off school grounds.

Click here to learn more about how to recognize, prevent and report cyberbullying.