December 5, 2007
Contact:
Ken Ma
Office of Public Affairs
(954) 262-5354 Office
(954) 830-4177 Cell
kennma@nova.edu
Nova Southeastern University supports Anti-Bullying Legislation
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Nova Southeastern University is supporting a Lee County woman’s efforts to push anti-bullying policies to make schools safer.
The University’s Southwest Student Educational Center is supporting Debbie Johnston’s efforts to pass Senate Bill 1384, which would require school districts statewide to adopt a uniform policy prohibiting bullying and harassment both on and off campus and over the Internet.
Johnston became a vocal anti-bullying advocate when her son, Jeffrey Johnston, committed suicide after he was bullied by a classmate, who also used the Internet to harass him. The bullying began when Johnston was a seventh grader at Trafalgar Middle School. It ended when Jeffrey’s mother found the 15-year-old hanging lifeless in his bedroom three years later.
Since then, Debbie Johnston, 50, has been on a crusade to make schools safer for children. Johnston has taken her cause to Tallahassee, where she is asking state lawmakers to pass the anti-bullying bill. But it has run into opposition from lawmakers such as state Sen. Stephen R. Wise (R-Jacksonville). Wise promised to allow the bill to be voted on last year in the Senate education committee, which he chairs. But he later reneged on that promise, allowing the Senate session to end without hearing the bill.
Johnston co-authored the book, “Bullycide in America”, along with six other mothers. The women took their message to the Fourth Annual International Bullying Prevention Conference: Best Practices of Bullying Prevention and School Safety, which has held in Ft. Lauderdale in November. The conference was co-hosted by Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services and the International Bullying Prevention Association.
“We need every voice to speak out about how their life has been impacted by bullying,” Johnston said. “Come with us to Tallahassee. Or write to your legislators, both state and federal, and ask that Jeff’s bill be passed. We all end up paying the cost of allowing this abuse to continue.”
About NSU’s Fort Myers Student Educational Center: Located on Colonial Blvd. two miles west of Interstate 75, the 7,000-square-foot facility houses over 400 students from Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties. The center offers master’s and doctoral degrees in education, speech-language pathology and nursing. www.nova.edu/sec/swflorida/
About Nova Southeastern University - Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University is a dynamic fully accredited institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 26,000 students and is the sixth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The university awards associate's, bachelor's, master's, specialist, doctoral, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences. For more information visit www.nova.edu.
