Mass. State House Passes Updates to Anti-Bullying Law

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

The bill passed 143-4 on Wednesday. It would create new reporting measures and recognize certain populations as more vulnerable to bullying.

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

The bill would create a new 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.

The bill now heads to the Massachusetts Senate.