Video: Voss on Bullying, Domestic Violence

State Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D-38) of Fort Lee was the guest speaker at the United Homeowners of Fort Lee meeting Tuesday at the .

Voss’s main topic at the meeting, which was attended by a mix of seniors and younger people, was bullying, but she also touched on the related topics of domestic violence, elder abuse and more.

“People who love people don’t hurt them,” Voss said. “And one of the things that’s happening in our economy is—with the economy the way it is now—we’re seeing more and more domestic violence, so the kids sometimes see this at home. I belong to a group right now that deals with elder abuse, so it’s not just the children or the mothers and fathers, but sometimes the grandmothers and grandfathers who are victims of this. And we even had to pass a law that your pet can be become the victim of domestic violence, because very often when a person is being abused—and abuse doesn’t have to be physical abuse. It can be psychological abuse. It can be emotional abuse. There are all kinds of ways of abusing people—and so, if you say, ‘I’m going to kill your dog’ or ‘I’m going to kill your cat,’ and that’s like your lifeline of love in your life, this is one of the worst things that can possibly happen. And it’s terrible that we have to legislate this type of thing.”

Voss went on to discuss a report by a bi-partisan task force on bullying, the recommendations of which were incorporated into recently passed legislation that goes into effect in 2013. She highlighted several recommendations from the report, including the following:

• Training for school administrators, boards of education and teachers on how to recognize bullying
• Teachers being intimidated by students
• Reporting bullying and not becoming an “accomplice”
• Bullying outside of school

“When kids are victims of maybe domestic violence, when they are being harassed, they’re going to walk down to the police department and say, ‘so and so is harassing me,’” Voss said. “But if you have a school resource officer in the building, who can see if the kid is being abused at home or in school or whatever, they can take action.”

Voss’s talk was followed by a question and answer session with the audience.

Time Warner Cable Channel 81 will air a full broadcast of Tuesday's program on Thursday, May 26, and Saturday, May 28, at 8 p.m.