Mom of bullied teen urges action on bill

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Filthy text messages and behind-the-back whispers were just a sample of the harassment Cynthia Logan said her daughter faced after a nude cell phone picture of the Ohio teenager was sent around her high school.

The taunting had gotten so bad that the 18-year-old would skip class, her mother said. And after weeks of ridicule at her Cincinnati school, Jessica Logan hanged herself in her bedroom.

Almost three years after Jessica’s death, Cynthia Logan urged state lawmakers Wednesday evening to support a bill that bears her daughter’s name.

The Jessica Logan Act would require public schools to expand their bullying policies to prohibit harassment by cellphones, computers and other electronic means. Schools would also have to train teachers to combat cyberbullying.

“I really believe that this would have helped my daughter,” Logan told an Ohio House committee as she clutched a framed portrait of Jessica.

The legislative panel is reviewing the bill and heard from its supporters at the hearing; no one spoke against the measure.

The measure would allow administrators to discipline students who cyberbully their classmates on buses and off school grounds if it harms their learning environment. Any new cyberbullying policy from the districts would have to spell out that students could face suspension if they harass someone.