The Murray Human Rights Commission will recommend an anti-bullying ordinance to city council on Jan. 24 after approving the updated resolution on Monday afternoon.
The resolution states, “the expectation is that all individuals in the city of Murray will conduct themselves in a manner in keeping with their levels of development, maturity and demonstrated capabilities with a proper regard for the rights and welfare of others.”
Allan Beane of Bully Free Systems, LLC, in Murray helped create the ordinance and will give an explanation at both the public safety committee and city council meeting on Jan. 24.
Beane said he and his wife also planned to give $1,000 in materials to Murray and Calloway County school districts for anti-bullying education.
“We love Murray and Calloway County and the people,” Beane said. “We want to enhance the community and work with Murray.”
The ordinance includes examples of verbal, physical and sexual bullying, negative social behavior and cyber bullying.
The ordinance states that the Human Rights commission plans to “launch a Bully Free Community Education Campaign to inform the community about the nature of bullying, why it must stop, and how it can be prevented. Additionally, the City and the Commission are encouraged to collaborate to develop a city ordinance against bullying.”
The resolution encourages the city to provide comprehensive anti-bullying training for personnel and volunteers and implement prevention and intervention-response strategies.
Commission Chairman Jody Cofer said he invited Murray State University Board of Regent Susan Guess and her daughter to talk about their anti-bullying initiatives in Paducah at their next meeting on Feb. 11.
There will also be a town hall meeting on March 11 that will give the public a chance to talk about local problems with bullying.
The commission also passed a resolution honoring Jim Frank, who recently resigned from the Human Rights Commission.
The updated resolution will be presented to the city council at their next meeting on Jan. 24.
At the end of the meeting, Cofer read from the schedule of planned events for the Martin Luther King Jr., holiday and Murray State’s Day of Service. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. Jan. 20, with a community march and candlelit vigil at the Martin Luther King Jr., monument on campus. There will be a breakfast at 8 a.m. on Jan. 21, at the Woodmen of the World building, with speaker, Elder Henry Watson, at 10 a.m. in the Curris Center Ballroom.
Story by Meghann Anderson, News Editor.