The month of October is recognized as Bullying Prevention Month and Representative Hurd took on the task to host a bullying prevention summit in San Antonio with local leaders and child advocates to raise awareness of bullying and cyber-bullying abuse and to educate the community on prevention resources and best practices

   Hurd states that bullying is a constant part of our communities and schools, but has become more prevalent with the internet creating new platforms for our kids to be bullied outside of the classroom.  

   The statistics behind the presence of bullying today are staggering. Each year, over 3.2 million students are bullied across the nation, and over 70 percent of young people report that they have seen bullying in their schools. Additionally, roughly 160,000 teens skip school each day because of bullying. These numbers are simply unacceptable. Ensuring an environment of kindness and respect is critical to the health and safety of students and our communities. 

   “I’ve also worked with my colleagues in Congress on a few bills to make progress on alleviating this issue in different ways. One bill that I co-sponsored would create an anti-bullying round-table to study bullying in elementary and secondary schools. The goal is to explore best practices for combating bullying, educating school officials to recognize bullying, and helping parents to address early warning signs. Another bill that I have co-sponsored, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act, would prohibit meal shaming on a national level. The third bill, the Never Again Education Act, would promote Holocaust education as a means to understand discrimination and bigotry, the abuse of power and human behavior, and prevention of prejudice and hate.” said Hurd.   

   “We are living in a time of deteriorating civility which jeopardizes the competition of ideas and the learning environment for our children. Their health and safety is in jeopardy and our democracy is at stake,” added Hurd.