Mass. Senate Passes Updates to Anti-Bullying Law

The Massachusetts Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill designed to build on the state's 2010 anti-bullying law by strengthening protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and students with disabilities.

The House last month approved the same bill, which would also create new reporting measures for schools and recognize certain populations as more vulnerable to bullying.

The 2010 law was designed to crack down on bullying and cyberbullying and require schools to establish anti-bullying programs.

The new bill would create a data collection and reporting mechanism designed to help educators, administrators and legislators identify trends and respond to them.

Schools would be required to report bullying data annually to state education officials. The combined data would be passed on to the attorney general and lawmakers.