The Fight To Pass Anti-Bullying 'Mallory's Law' Continues In NJ

ROCKAWAY, NJ — Dianne Grossman lost her 12-year-old daughter Mallory to bullying in 2017 and continues to champion a bill aimed at toughening New Jersey's anti-bullying laws. Monday the latest version cleared the Senate Education Committee.

Sponsored by Senator Joe Pennacchio and Senator Patrick Diegnan, the bill (S-1790) amends New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights with specific requirements on school districts to help prevent and respond to bullying incidents.

“School bullying presents a serious threat to the health and safety of students in every grade, in every school in the state,” said Pennacchio. “Victims of bullying are susceptible to attack 24 hours a day by student aggressors texting from mobile phones or hiding behind the anonymity of social media. This bill requires school and county officials to address bullying before it gets out of control, and makes it clear that districts, school officials and parents have a defined responsibility to protect children from aggressions that can occur on and off school property, on the internet, or by text.”

The bill would mandate school districts to include in their anti-bullying policies the specific consequences for a student harassing, intimidating or bullying a schoolmate, and require superintendents to provide the school board with data on the number of reports that met the statutory definition of bullying.

“Bullying is too often dismissed as ‘kids being kids.’ Let's be clear. Bullying destroys young lives,” said Diegnan. “This law is a first step in assuring that no student should suffer as Mallory did. Schools must be a place where students are protected from bullies.”

In addition, the measure increases the fines for parents or guardians for failure to comply with a court-ordered class or training on cyberbullying. Currently, parent or guardian of a minor under the age of 16 who has been adjudicated delinquent of cyber-harassment face fines from $25 to $100 for failure to attend classes with their child, and the bill would raise the penalties to $100 to $500.

“A $25 fine isn’t going to do anything. Parents won’t miss a day of work to take their kid to class, they will just pay the fine,” said Pennacchio. “Putting a higher price tag on compliance will get their attention and encourage them to put an end to their child’s dangerous conduct.”

The legislation is entitled Mallory’s Law in honor of Mallory Rose Grossman, a 12-year-old Rockaway student who committed suicide in June 2017. Her parents claim she suffered relentless bullying.

“School bullying is killing our children. That’s the hard fact,” said Pennacchio. “The insidious, constant badgering of young, isolated youngsters cannot be tolerated. This bill recognizes that stopping the culture of bullying requires a multi-faceted approach that involves students, parents, teachers, and school administrators.”

After the loss of their daughter, Mallory Grossman’s parents turned their grief into action, by starting “Mallory’s Army,” a national movement to save other children from the devastating effects of bullying. On Dec. 18, 2017 Pennacchio and his colleagues in the State Senate honored Mallory’s Army for their efforts.

Mallory's Army

The Grossmans became anti-bullying advocates in the wake of their daughter's death, launching the advocacy group Mallory's Army. Dianne Grossman conducts workshops and speeches to share her daughter's story and call for bullying prevention efforts. Mallory's Army was previously honored in the Senate with a resolution recognizing its efforts.

The story of Mallory's decision to take her own life and her family's advocacy was among the factors spurring a long-running Patch national advocacy reporting project examining bullying and cyberbullying from multiple angles. One in three U.S. children is bullied, either in person or online, as Mallory was. Tens of thousands of kids stay home from school every day to avoid their bullies, and children who are bullied can carry the scars into adulthood.

Mallory's parents said she took her life to escape horrific bullying. In a lawsuit against their daughter's school, they said officials failed to prevent bullying by four classmates and that the actions of administrators made Mallory's suffering worse.

According to the lawsuit, a group of four girls bullied Mallory at home via social media, in the classroom and in the lunchroom, actions the family claims directly led to Mallory's suicide death on June 14, 2017. The suit says the school district fell short of a legal obligation to prevent bullying.

More To Be Done

Grossman told Patch last December that New Jersey could include digital responsibility being taught in the schools, something that other states have already done.

"We have no digital responsibility laws in this state. But we are considering passing a law about handwriting," Grossman said, referring to an attempt to mandate cursive writing in the classroom. This is not a regulation that Grossman is a big fan of.

"I wish I didn't live in a world where we had to legislate behavior," she said.

Grossman said she has encountered people in her advocacy work who consider bullying a rite of passage. Grossman adamantly insists it is not.

"No one became a better person because they were tormented in middle school," Grossman said.

And it is not for herself or for her daughter's legacy that she is fighting so hard for this bill. She said children currently struggling in school need a voice and she has a moral obligation to be that voice.

"This law isn't for the places where people are following policy and best practices. It is for the places that aren't and need to start," Grossman said. "This isn't a Rockaway problem or a Morris County problem. This is a New Jersey problem."

Pennacchio and Diegnan’s legislation would reinforce and intensify the state’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, signed into law after cyber harassment led to the tragic suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi in 2010.

A similar bill passed the Senate unanimously during the 2018-2019 legislative session but it did not make it through the Assembly.

"Unlike my work with the Senate, there is no fire in the Assembly. They pass a bill about banning plastic bags when I can walk into the store and buy a box of zip-lock bags," Grossman said last year. "The problem is, the right child hasn't died yet. That is what it will take. The right child has to die."

Read More About Mallory Grossman:

• 'The Right Kid Hasn't Died Yet:' The Fight To Pass Mallory's Law
• 6 Of The Most Disturbing Claims In NJ Bullying Death Lawsuit
• 1 Year Later, Mallory Grossman Lives On In Anti-Bullying Efforts
• Mallory Grossman's Mom Shares Painful New Bullying Details
• Bullying Of Mallory Grossman, 12, Detailed In Wrongful Death Suit
• 'Mallory's Army' Fights Back Against Bullying After 12-Year-Old's Sudden Death

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