BILL ANALYSIS
By: Nelson
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Currently, schools do not have a cohesive approach to educate students about the dangers of certain websites. While several resources and programs already exist on Internet safety, many schools and school districts have not yet examined all of the available information and developed a program from that information to deliver to students about online safety.
S.B. 136 requires the Texas School Safety Center to develop a program that all Texas school districts can use on a permissive basis to inform students and their parents about online safety.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
The bill amends the Education Code by adding a provision requiring the Texas School Safety Center (center), in cooperation with the Attorney General, to develop a program that provides instruction concerning Internet safety, including instruction relating to the potential dangers of allowing personal information to appear on an Internet website, the manner in which to report an inappropriate online solicitation, and the prevention, detection, and reporting of bullying or threats occurring over the Internet.
The bill requires the center, in developing the program, to solicit input from interested stakeholders and, to the extent practicable, draw from existing resources and programs. The center shall make the program available to public schools.
The bill requires the center to develop this program as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007