The Texas Senate Committee on Education heard testimony Tuesday on several bills targeted to ban bullying in schools, including cyber bullying.
The legislation was filed by Democratic Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth.
The legislation not only requires school officials to be trained to identify bullying but to also identify how to handle the situation.
Nearly one if five Texas students’ reports being bulled at school, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brenda Heredia is the Executive Director of the Family Crisis Center in Harlingen and her team knows the effects of bullying first hand.
"We're the ones in the front trenches seeing the clients seeing the results of the bullying. We do out reach to the schools free of charge", said Heredia.
Furthermore Senator Davis' bill would also call for the bully to be moved to another class or campus and not the victim as is current practice.
"That's something that our membership organizations has pushed for because we see to many of the victims having to leave the school sometimes their parents having to move just to get away from the bully", said Heredia.
Senator Davis says is the legislation is passed; Texas would have one of the most comprehensive anti-bullying statutes in the nation.
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