WESTMINSTER — Ryan's Law, passed in 2004, defined bullying as “any overt act or combination of acts directed against a student by another student or group of students.”
To meet the standard of legal bullying under the state's education statute, this act or acts must:
• be repeated over time;
• be intended to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the student; and
• occur during the school day on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity, or before or after the school day on a school bus or at a school-sponsored activity.
Several years later, John Halligan wrote a bill designed to introduce the topics of depression and risks of suicide into the public school health curriculum.
As part of the state's standards for comprehensive health education, public schools are now required to impart an “understanding of depression and the signs of suicide risk for a family member or fellow student that includes how to respond appropriately and seek help and provides an awareness of the available school and community resources such as the local suicide crisis hotline.”
The legislation went through the Statehouse unchanged and was signed into law in April 2006.