Monday, August 30, 2010 
Stephen Beale, GoLocalProv Politics Editor

Democratic Attorney General candidate Stephen Archambault is calling for a new law to address the issue of cyberbullying in schools. 
“I will push for new tough state legislation to protect our children and teenagers from this new and dangerous form of bullying,” Archambault said. He said the new law should have tougher penalties for cyberbullying – and also put more responsibility on educators to report cases.

Cyberbullying is the use of e-mail, text messages, and social networking sites like Facebook to threaten, harass, and spread rumors about a classmate. Half of all U.S. children had some experience with cyberbullying in 2008, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control study. Because it doesn’t require fact-to-face confrontations, Archambault said cyberbullying tends to be more common than more traditional forms of bullying.

He called on a new state Senate commission that is studying the issue to review the anti-bullying laws that recently passed in Massachusetts and Louisiana. The Massachusetts law, which was passed after two bullying-related suicides, mandates that every school employee – including custodians and cafeteria workers – report incidents of bullying.

He also called for the expansion of programs like TalkWorks – which uses plays and role playing to illustrate the dangers of bullying for elementary school students in Rhode Island. “I attended a TalkWorks session in an elementary school classroom and as a result have seen first-hand the positive impact on our children,” Archambault said.