Oklahoma lawmakers working on bill to address bullying – KTEN [Video]

(KTEN) — Bullying isn’t anything new. There’s verbal, physical and cyberbullying. Oklahoma lawmakers are working on legislation that could modify the penalties for someone who’s found guilty of it in the court of law.

“People can do things on Snapchat and Facebook, and that’s where the evolution of bullying has come from,” Ali Lawson said, Ada City Schools’ Project AWARE manager. “It’s more things that are hidden. It’s not blatantly obvious.”

Senate Bill 1100 could address bullying in two ways.

It would make it illegal to threaten, intimidate, harass or threaten to inflict injury or emotional distress on someone in person or electronically.

It would also include penalties for someone whom “it can be shown to be a proximate cause” of suicide or attempted suicide.

The minimal sentence, if accused, could be a misdemeanor with a 500 dollar fine and or one year in a county jail.

“When we are legislating these types of items, you’ve got to start …