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A Pennsylvania lawmaker is planning to introduce legislation that would address bullying, which happens daily in schools.

In a memo, Democratic state Representative Frank Burns wrote that “bullying is a pervasive scourge.” He noted that most of the time it is not properly addressed, Consequently, the problem can escalate from verbal taunts and online posting to physical assaults or in worst cases—suicide.

Rep. Burns said, “For this reason, we need to hold students, parents and officials at all levels accountable for remedying and preventing bullying."

Three legislative proposals to stop bullying

Rep. Franks said he will introduce three bills to address the issue. His first proposal will hold parents accountable for repeated bullying by their child. The bill will establish a three-strike system for parental accountability and participation.

Schools will inform parents about their child’s first bullying incident and the actions taken to correct it. The second time the child bullies,  schools will require parents to take a parental class on bullying. They will also attend a resolution conference with school administrators to develop a plan to prevent future incident.

If the child bullies three or more times, schools would file a citation against the parents in court. Parents could face a penalty of up to $500 and/or community service.

Rep. Burn’s second legislation will create an anonymous bullying reporting system. It will also require school administrators to follow-up on incidents, create action plan and implement it. Schools could face disciplinary action for failure to create or carry out a plan.

His third proposal will require schools to track bullying incident and submit a monthly report to the Department of Education. The report will be publicly available on the department’s website. According to Rep. Burns, the objective is to provide accurate and real-time data on bullying in Pennsylvania schools.

First Lady Melania Trump is focused on preventing school bullying. In a speech at the United Nations last year, she encouraged the audience to “teach every child that they are the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity, and leadership.” She emphasized they can only teach values by example.