Tricia Norman, the mother of alleged bully victim, Rebecca Sedwick, is backing House and Senate legislation that would toughen penalties against bullying.
Rebecca Sedwick ended her life in November after alleged bullying from classmates.
If this legislation is passed, it will be known as Rebecca's Law.
Tricia Norman's attorney, Brett Morgan, says the state is now seeing bullying for what it really is.
“I think it shows that they are taking it seriously, i think it shows that bullying has raised to the epidemic levels and that something has to be done to deter it in the future,” Morgan said. “You know, parents and teachers alike, they kind of think of bullying as kind of teasing, you know it's normal behavior for kids to tease one another, but at the end of the day, it's not.”
Rebecca's Law would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to willfully, maliciously or repeatedly harass or cyberbully another person, and a third-degree felony if there's a "credible threat" involved in the harassment.
