Anti-Bullying Efforts Gain in Mass.

Nov. 17, 2009— -- Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, 11, bequeathed his worldly possessions -- his Pokemon cards -- to his little brother before he picked up an extension cord, wrapped it around his neck and hanged himself last April. His mom, Sirdeaner Walker, said Carl was a victim of bullying at school.

"The only time I could not protect my son was between the hours of eight and three," said Walker. "He was supposed to be safe at school."

Carl attended a charter school in Springfield, Mass., where, according to his mom, the kids picked on him for everything from the way he dressed to how he talked. Carl's classmates often taunted him and called him "gay." Since that day, Walker, 43, has been on a mission to educate parents and lawmakers that "bullying is not a rite of passage, it's an urgent matter."

William Lassiter of the Center for Prevention of School Violence based in Raleigh, N.C. agrees. Lassiter said national studies show that 27 percent of kids in grades 6 through 12 say they have been bullied in the last 30 days. And 8 percent of American 8th graders reporting missing one day of school per month because of bullying.

Advocates say the situation is even worse for special-education and autistic students. A survey just released by the Massachusetts Advocates for Children showed that of the 400 parents surveyed, almost 90 percent reported that their child had been bullied sometime in the past year.

Julia Landau of MAC said "kids with autism are much more frequent targets of bullying, they act different…their verbal tics are often mocked. More than half of the respondents reported that their children were physically assaulted as well."

And a study released by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network last year showed that 9 out of 10 gay and lesbian students reported experiencing harassment at school.

Yet, despite the pervasive nature of the problem there are still eight states that do not have anti-bullying laws on the books. Massachusetts is one of them.

But it's not for lack of trying.