[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 908 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 908

   Expressing support for designation of October 2016 as ``Bullying 
                          Prevention Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2016

Mr. Honda (for himself, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, 
 Mr. Huffman, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Clarke of New York, and Mr. Garamendi) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                   on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing support for designation of October 2016 as ``Bullying 
                          Prevention Month''.

Whereas bullying is the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to 
        emotionally or physically harm another person that involves a real or 
        perceived imbalance of power;
Whereas bullying includes--

    (1) verbal bullying, including teasing, name-calling, inappropriate 
comments, taunting, and threatening to cause harm;

    (2) social or relational bullying, or the attempt to damage a person's 
reputation or relationships; and

    (3) physical bullying, or attempts and success in harming a person 
physically or damaging their personal possessions;

Whereas bullying includes harassment that may occur over the Internet, in the 
        workplace, schools, homes, nursing homes, and within social settings;
Whereas judgment and discrimination against others may be based on a person's 
        actual or perceived race or ethnicity, physical, mental or emotional 
        ability status, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, religion, or 
        age;
Whereas a disproportionate number of individuals with disabilities, individuals 
        with body image issues, individuals of religious minorities, African-
        Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Native Americans, and 
        members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community 
        report experiencing daily discrimination;
Whereas nearly 1 in 3 students report being bullied during the school year, and 
        only 36 percent of these students reported the bullying;
Whereas 160,000 children around the United States stay home from school each day 
        because of bullying and fear of bullying;
Whereas nearly 43 percent of all young people report experiencing cyberbullying, 
        and 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once;
Whereas cyberbullying occurs on social media and online and is used to--

    (1) threaten and harass individuals;

    (2) ``out'' or expose personal information and photographs;

    (3) victim blame and survivor shame, especially in the cases of sexual 
harassment and assault; and

    (4) make inflammatory comments or masquerade as an individual to harm 
their reputation or character;

Whereas 80 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer teenagers 
        reported being bullied at school, and 42 percent of lesbian, gay, 
        bisexual, transgender, and queer teenagers reported feeling unsafe at 
        school because of their gender identity, gender expression, or sexual 
        orientation;
Whereas 82 percent of transgender youth report that they feel unsafe at school, 
        44 percent had been physically assaulted, 67 percent had been bullied 
        online, and 64 percent had reported their property stolen or destroyed;
Whereas 35 percent of people in the United States report being bullied on the 
        job, the majority of whom report being bullied by their bosses or 
        another person of power;
Whereas the majority of workplace bullying is directed at women and racial 
        minorities, predominantly Hispanic-Americans, African-Americans, and 
        Asian-Americans;
Whereas 1 in 5 elders have experienced hostile animosity from their peers in a 
        group setting;
Whereas more than 500,000 reported accounts and millions of unreported accounts 
        of elder abuse occur in homes, in relatives' homes, and in facilities 
        responsible for their care;
Whereas people of all ages, groups, and backgrounds may be victims of bullying, 
        marginalization, and discrimination, and bullying may lead to or worsen 
        depression, anxiety, and social isolation, which can lead to thoughts of 
        suicide or suicidal behavior;
Whereas discrimination and bullying have serious and lasting effects on the 
        physical, emotional, and mental health of an individual, families, on 
        organizational stability in schools and businesses, and on the well-
        being of society as a whole;
Whereas bullying can be eliminated by creating a culture that supports 
        ``upstanders'', a name for those who stand against bullying and bullies, 
        and society needs to promote a positive way to talk about bullying; and
Whereas October 2016 would be an appropriate month to designate as ``Bullying 
        Prevention Month'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports the 
designation of ``Bullying Prevention Month'' in order to--
            (1) acknowledge the harmful impact of bullying and of 
        judging others based on appearance or group affiliation;
            (2) promote respect and support everyone's right to be who 
        he or she is without being shamed, judged, or attacked; and
            (3) support the addition of the term ``upstander'' to our 
        shared language to recognize those who stand up to bullying and 
        the value of positive language and its ability to change 
        behavior.
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