I am a survivor of Hazing and Bullying and I have made it my life's mission to end these archaic and juvenile rituals. Hazing is illegal already but anti-hazing laws are rarely enforced and schools are currently not required to document and/or report these crimes.  This bill will require all Public and Secondary Schools in Massachusetts to document and report these crimes. There are many benefits to passing this and the most important benefit is that it will protect your children where they are extremely vulnerable. Once this legislation is passed the school's focus will go from trying to cover up or delegitimize the situation to placing the focus on the victim and the victims needs. It will help deter events like this from happening because schools will do more to educate and promote positive behavior in all school environments. This bill will also help in the event that someone is bullied or hazed. Once we start receiving the data from the schools we can use these analytics to determine what is working and where we need to improve to keep our children safe at all times while in school and after school activities.  Below is the language for our Bill:

An Act relative to hazing in schools

SECTION 1. Subsection (a) of section 37O of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “cyber-bullying”, in line 19, the following words: - and hazing as defined in section 17 of chapter 269.

SECTION 2. Section 18 of chapter 269 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph: -Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, hazing incidents that involve students enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school district shall be reported according to the procedures and requirements prescribed in section 37O of chapter 71.

 SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, the annual interscholastic athletic head injury safety program required under section 222 of chapter 111 shall also include educational materials and training on hazing as defined in section 17 of chapter 269.

Please sign this Petition to show your support for this bill. Our only agenda is to help protect all children, no questions asked!