On Wednesday, Colorado's Governor Bill Owens signed the bill into law. It will go into effect in August. The legislation requires all school districts in the state to work harder to prevent cases of bullying amongst students. The schools will most likely implement programs on anger management and tolerance. To make sure schools are doing their part to prevent bullying, each school district will be required to put together yearly reports to track the progress of the new programs.
Many experts believe that bullying is a major factor in school violence.
The U.S. Secret Service found that over two-thirds of the attackers in recent school shootings have felt bullied by other students. And a survey published by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that as many as 10,000 students in the U.S. do not attend classes at least once a month because of bully problems at school. The survey also found that about half of the students surveyed were bullied by a classmate at least once a week. Several other states across the country have either started similar programs, or are planning to institute anti-bullying measures in schools.