New anti-bullying law takes effect tomorrow

The new anti-bullying law, officially called the Social Security at Schools Act, takes effect on Saturday, August 1st. From tomorrow, schools will be required to enforce an active policy against bullying. According to Simone Walvisch of the PO-Raad, the sector organization for primary education, this new anti-bullying law will not put an end to all bullying in schools, but it is important that the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, shows that the issue is taken seriously. "You can't prevent children being bullied with legislation, but you can achieve that schools implement policies and keep an eye on it", Walvisch said to BNR on Friday. Most schools already use an anti-bullying program, but Walvisch feels that these could be stricter. From August next year there will be an Inspectorate to monitor school's anti-bullying policies, according to the Nationale Onderwijsgids, or National Education Guide in English. This Inspectorate will make sure that schools have a standardized tool to monitor social security and that there is a person that coordinates all tasks around the anti-bullying policy.