Bullying has been a big issue in our state this year, particularly in the wake of the suicide of a Greenwich High School student. Bart Palosz killed himself after suffering through a long period of being bullied.
The sad fact is that bullying happens in many schools. This week on Face the State, our guests were three three courageous teenagers who are talking about being bullied and their effort to stop it. Taylor Tanguay and Helen Mendenhall are students at Nathan Hale Ray High in Moodus, and Gillian Bransfield attends the Williams School in New London.
The trio of friends put together a video that is going viral. You can watch it right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRKSDNhd1dE
On Sunday, the girls appeared on Face the State to talk about bullying they endured, the reaction to the video, and they even shared the story of a bully who apologized because of the video. You can watch the segment right here: http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9411404
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Dennis House blog 
Great, great video! Very inspiring to those going through bullying. Did you know that a 10 year old girl and her girl scout troop were successful in having Gov Malloy sign into Law this year in April, a new definition of bullying and mandates for training and intervention for schools? See below, for details. Let’s hope the schools follow the LAW and have more people trained, knowledgeable and effective at intervening at the first signs of the effects of bullying on kids and of the effects of mental health disabilities.
From: “zRepresentative Noreen Kokoruda”
To: “jurewicz, hannah”
Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 3:23:33 PM
Subject: RE: I am a Girl Scout. Please Read. Bill 6274
Dear Hannah,
I would like to thank you for expressing your concern regarding the shortfalls contained in last year’s bullying legislation. It has become apparent that last year’s legislation did not go far enough to address the problem at hand. I am proud to tell you that there has been further action taken to include training for bullying related investigations in state law.
Let me first say that the advice that you gave me during our meeting has proven invaluable. The idea to include training for bullying related investigations was refined into a bill I proposed in January. I introduced the bill entitled, AN ACT CONCERNING TRAINING FOR THE INVESTIGATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CLAIMS OF SCHOOL BULLYING, Proposed H.B. No. 6274. This bill would have required, “district safe school climate coordinator and the safe school climate specialist for a school district to participate in training regarding the investigation and management of claims of school bullying under the district’s safe school climate plan.” The reason that I did not invite you to the Capitol to testify is that this particular bill was not given a public hearing, but the ideas expressed in it were incorporated into the recently adopted gun and school safety legislation officially entitled, An Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety, S.B. No. 1160, Public Act No. 13-3.
I would like to take this time to thank you for the initiative that you showed throughout this lengthy legislative process. Your spirited support of this legislation truly made a difference and helped to both refine and adopt the ideas that you set forward. I saw firsthand the efforts that you made in your school and during your troop’s meetings, including the anti-bullying posters. Needless to say, I am very impressed. These are truly great deeds that deserve to be applauded. I knew that I could expect nothing less from the wonderful young ladies of Girl Scout Troop 62086.
I look forward to hearing other ideas that you have for bills still to come and please make sure to keep up the good work. I hope you have a great summer and look forward to see you around town soon.
Sincerely,
Noreen S. Kokoruda
State Representative
101st District
A 10 year old girl, had been successful in changing the law. She had done it with the support of her sisters in her Girl Scout troop who believed in her and the message. She gained their confidence as a leader, with her clear and simple message; with passion and conviction; and with seemingly endless persistence to see that right action was taken. Jacque says, “I am not sorry it happened. If it wasn’t for that experience, I would not have been doing what I am doing now; getting a new law passed.”
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