7/1/2009 - Bend
by Matt McDonald
 
At any age, dealing with a school bully can be rough.
 
"Lots of name calling," said Emma Hoke, who just finished the fifth grade at Culver Elementary School.
"In middle school, there's a lot of it," said Tia Hatton, a student at Skyview Middle School.
"It's more of a verbal thing," said Brenden Hatton, a Mountain View High School student.
 
A new anti-bullying law is one of more than thirty laws to go into affect on July 1st. It requires schools to have a policy on bullying, harassment and cyber bullying. Bend LaPine and Redmond School District already have a policy that includes coaches, volunteers, parents as well as students and staff. Soon to be sixth grader at Culver Middle School, Emma Hoke says she knows what to do with a bully.
 
"I think that they need special help. And if that doesn't work, they should just be kicked out," said Hoke.
 
Marty Rasmussen, a Bend parent is hoping another new law helps his eleven year old daughter learn a lesson he missed.
 
"Having a kid when I was seventeen, maybe it will teach younger kids to be more careful," said Marty Rasmussen.
 
Sex education is now legally required at public elementary and secondary schools. Parents in the Bend LaPine School District say it's already the norm. Starting in fifth grade, students watch 'the movie' as one parent calls it, sparking some interesting conversations.
 
"It's not dinner conversation. It's definitely more one on one, pulling mom or dad aside as the case may be and, uh, 'we heard about this is this right?'" said Tana Hatton, mother of four kids in Bend schools.
 
Get hurt on a city bus. the amount you can sue for is going up. Tort claim law limits are being raised for public agencies, from $100,000 for personal injury to $500,000.
 
"There are tort claims all the time. You know, car accidents people who run over pot holes," said Gary Firestone, the City of Bend's Asssitant Attorney.