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House passes Danny’s Law to address school bullying

September 17, 2020 Jaime DeJesus
House passes Danny’s Law to address school bullying
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The House of Representatives passed U.S. Rep. Max Rose’s anti-bullying legislation Wednesday. The bill, known as Danny’s Law, is named in honor of Daniel Fitzpatrick, a 13-year-old Staten Island boy who attended Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge and took his own life as a result of bullying in August 2016.

Then-U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan introduced a similar bill in 2017.

The bipartisan legislation would direct the president to establish an “Anti-Bullying Roundtable,” a commission tasked with studying bullying in elementary and secondary schools.

The roundtable would produce two reports. The first would recommend best practices concerning bullying in schools and would be submitted to Congress no later than 270 days after the roundtable is formed. A final report would detail the findings and conclusions of the roundtable and recommend legislative and/or administrative actions to be taken. It would be submitted to Congress no later than one year after the roundtable is formed.

“[Danny] was a boy who loved to love,” said Rose. “He accepted each person as they are, and always found in them a shared humanity. Our society allowed a beautiful, young boy like Danny to be bullied so horribly that he took his own life at 13 years old. This should not happen in America, this cannot happen in America, not to any family.”

Courtesy of U.S. Rep. Max Rose

Daniel’s mother Maureen founded Danny’s Angel Network Nurturing Youth (D.A.N.N.Y.) Inc., which seeks to raise awareness about bullying in schools.

“Danny’s Law is the stake in the ground that sends a message across our country about justice and positive change to end the abusive cycle of bullying,” she said. “Danny’s Law is a foundation that positive advocacy can be built on to change lives and save lives with the education of emotional literacy. I would like to thank Congressman Max Rose, his predecessor Daniel Donovan, the office of District Attorney Michael McMahon and the community of Staten Island for their support and example of unity.”

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