Earlier this year, members of the General Assembly approved legislation that would have changed the definition of bullying. But the governor vetoed that bill.
Are some students bullied more than others? Delegate Joshua Cole is a Democrat from Fredericksburg who thinks so, and he wanted to change the definition of bullying to protect the most vulnerable students.
"Whether it's students with disabilities, Black and brown students, students who may have moved from various different areas, LGBTQIA students; there's even data that proves that those particular groups are the brunt of bullying more so than others," Cole says. "And if they can be protected in the workplace with the Virginia Human Rights Act, certainly our students could be protected in the same manner."
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bill saying that it might cause confusion for teachers and school administrators by excluding some groups. Todd Gathje at the Family Foundation says he agrees with the governor's veto.
"Now we have an effort to elevate sexual orientation [and] gender identity to some type of special class for bullying, and we just did not feel that that's right," Gathje says. "We want to treat every student equally across the board so that regardless of how someone may identify if they are bullied, that's wrong. If it's based on their religion or ethnicity, that is wrong."
Cole says he's still hoping he'll be able to change the definition of bullying after the next election for governor.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
