Please send your letters Action Alert! ! ! !
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LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT LAMBDA LETTERS ALERT

Please Support A End To School Bullying

Dear Friends,

Today we ask that you write letters to members of the Senate Education Committee in Support of AB 79. The bill is scheduled to be voted on in that committee on June 27th, so please send your letters soon. Please also share this alert with all your friends to maximize the flow of mail to the committee.

BACKGROUND

Anyone who has grown up lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered knows that bullying is an every day experience in America's schools. I know I went through some really awful harassment and name calling in grade school. All too often the response from teachers and school authorities has been, "Oh well, boys will be boys."

Now however, the level of violence among school children is rising at a terrifying rate and not just against queer youth. When I grew up the weapons of choice were fists. Now they are guns. What is causing the upsurge in school violence? That is a dismaying and very disturbing question. No one really knows for sure. However, most of the shooters have been outcasts in their schools. Many of them have been the subjects of abuse and harassment by their classmates.

Much of the violence in inner city schools appears to be the result of conflict between rival gangs. It seems clear that one good thing to try is to work very hard at developing and implementing plans to prevent school violence and bullying and to plan and implement procedures for conflict resolution.

AB 79, introduced by Assembly Member Sally Havice (Democrat of Cerritos), would require school districts to create and implement such plans. We think it deserves your support and we urge you to write to the members of the Senate Education Committee urging them to vote for the bill.

You may see a copy of AB 79 by clicking the following link:

Click here: AB 79 Assembly Bill - AMENDED

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/ab_79_bill_20010531_amended_asm.html">AB 79

You may use the following sample message or compose your own. The addresses of the legislators who need to hear from you follow the sample message.

SAMPLE MESSAGE

Dear Senator:

AB 79 would require school districts to prepare and implement plans for protecting the safety of students against violence and to prepare and implement conflict resolution plans. I think this bill is obviously needed and I urge you to vote for it when it comes before you soon in the Senate Education Committee.

Reports of the recent shooting in a school in Santee California indicate that the shooter was the target of considerable bullying in his school. In almost all the other cases of students shooting their classmates, the shooters appear to have been outcasts, in conflict with their classmates.

In the past it has been common for teachers and school administrators to respond to student bullying by saying Oh well, boys will be boys. The problem with that response is that the bullying and conflict among students is turning lethal. In past years the weapon of choice for students in conflict has been fists, or perhaps milk cartons. Now it is guns.

We must do something about the escalating number of deaths. We require young people to attend school. That means that we have an iron clad responsibility to ensure that they do not risk their lives in doing so.

AB 79 is a good response to the problem. I urge you to vote for it when it comes before you in the Senate Education Committee.

Sincerely,

(YOUR NAME)
(YOUR ADDRESS)

LEGISLATIVE ADDRESSES

Please let us know if you respond to this alert. It helps us determine whether or not these alerts are effective. It also helps us respond when legislators claim that they are receiving no calls, messages, or letters in support of our position.

NOTE:WE HAVE AN EASY WAY FOR YOU TO LET US KNOW THAT YOU RESPONDED TO THIS ALERT. We include our e-mail address at the end of the list of addresses of the people who you need to write to. If you cut and paste our address along with those of the others we will get a copy of your message. There will be no need for you to send a separate confirmation to us.

SECOND NOTE; We have added a parenthesis to the list of e-mail addresses of the people who need to be messaged. As a result, If you use America On Line, you can cut and paste all of the addresses into one address block, but the message received by each person will contain only his or her e-mail address. If you use some other Internet server, you may need to use another technique to accomplish the same thing.

E-mail messages should be sent to all the members of the Senate Education Committee who have E-mail. Their addresses are as follows:(You may cut and paste this list into the address block of your message.) NOTE:WE HAVE THREE VERSIONS OF THE LIST IN THREE DIFFERENT FORMATS. ALL THREE VERSIONS CONTAIN THE SAME ADDRESSES. YOU MAY USE WHICHEVER VERSION YOU CAN CUT AND PASTE MOST EASILY.)

Version #1

(Senator.Vasconcellos@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.McPherson@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Alarcon@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Alpert@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Chesbro@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Haynes@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Karnette@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Knight@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Monteith@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.O'Connell@sen.ca.gov,
Deborah.Ortiz@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Scott@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Sher@sen.ca.gov,
LambdaLP@aol.com)

Version #2

(Senator.Vasconcellos@sen.ca.gov, Senator.McPherson@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Alarcon@sen.ca.gov, Senator.Alpert@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Chesbro@sen.ca.gov, Senator.Haynes@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Karnette@sen.ca.gov, Senator.Knight@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Monteith@sen.ca.gov, Senator.O'Connell@sen.ca.gov,
Deborah.Ortiz@sen.ca.gov, Senator.Scott@sen.ca.gov,
Senator.Sher@sen.ca.gov, LambdaLP@aol.com)

Version #3

(Senator.Vasconcellos@sen.ca.gov
Senator.McPherson@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Alarcon@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Alpert@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Chesbro@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Haynes@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Karnette@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Knight@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Monteith@sen.ca.gov
Senator.O'Connell@sen.ca.gov
Deborah.Ortiz@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Scott@sen.ca.gov
Senator.Sher@sen.ca.gov
LambdaLP@aol.com)

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Please do let us know if you respond to this alert. It really does help us measure the effectiveness of these alerts. Just send us a cc.
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