Cyber-bullies will be Punished in Ontario

After a public consultation process, the Ontario Government has introduced amendments to the Education Act which will have the effect of abandoning zero tolerance regulation of behaviour in the schools and which, among other proposals, will add bullying and cyber-bullying to the list of infractions for which suspension from school must be considered. Among other initiatives, new funding will be provided to Kids Help Phone for more resources for bullying and cyber-bullying prevention support and for more security access devices for schools. The Ontario Premier was quoted as saying "Bullying is bullying", whether done in the schoolyard or online, and the amendments will make it clear that school principals have authority to deal with Internet-based bullying that does not take place on school property. The President of the Canadian Safe Schools Network, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to reducing youth violence, praised the amendments and noted that schoolyard bullying, although it has long been a problem, is, as he put it, "nothing compared with the widespread use and abuse of the Internet to target or mock other students or teachers". For a news story in The Globe and Mail, see: http://tinyurl.com/yv5wep For the Ontario Government's press release on the proposed amendments, visit: http://tinyurl.com/2e6rl6 Summary by: The Editor