Pittsburgh Launches Anti-Bullying Initiative

PITTSBURGH, PA — A bullying prevention policy is being implemented for all youth programming provide by the city.

Mayor Bill Peduto signed an executive order Wednesday that provides for ongoing staff training to recognize and mitigate bullying. The order also is designed to help provide city workers greater understanding of bullying based on things such as a person's sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

The order also instructs city departments that work with young people to develop a unified anti-bullying policy to create safe spaces in city facilities for young people - particularly those of protected classes who may be more susceptible to bullying.

“Today we reaffirm our commitment as a city to providing kids with safe and healthy spaces to be themselves no matter who they are, how they identify, how they choose to express themselves or where they come from," Peduto said in a news release.

"Bullying has a dangerous impact on the mental and physical health of our youngest residents.
These harmful actions have no place in Pittsburgh, and my executive order represents a
major step toward preventing and responding to bullying incidents in city facilities."

Peduto instructed the departments of parks and recreation; human resources and civil service; and public safety to develop and publicize the bullying prevention policy.

Patch’s Menace of Bullies national reporting and advocacy project, now in its third year, is designed to raise awareness about the confounding national crisis of bullying and cyberbullying. In a nationwide series of reports, Patch journalists share stories of bullying and torment across the United States, and what schools, parents and others are doing to protect children.

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