State lawmakers must act to address the long reach of cyberbullying.

State lawmakers need to address cyberbullying.

Bullying is older than the playground and school hallway. It was born with the first man to understand that an imbalance of power in his favor allowed him to cajole, intimidate, frighten.

But it is in playgrounds and school hallways, the imaginary fiefdoms of children and teens who have come early to this understanding, where we most often think of bullying.

In the last few years, technology and the social networking it’s spawned, has extended the reach of bullies and limited places of refuge for their victims.

Early this month, cyberbullying claimed a young life in the San Antonio suburb of Alamo Heights. David Molak, a 16-year-old high school student, committed suicide after several months of being bullied on social media. His death garnered international attention after his brother wrote a long and passionate Facebook post that was a call to arms against the cyberbullying that led to his brother’s death.

Last week, state Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, announced that in the next legislative session, he will file a bill, “David’s Law,” that will target cyberbullying. He’s begun a series of community workshops seeking input from parents, educators, law enforcement officials and prosecutors.

Menendez said that Texas’ statewide existing anti-bullying and harassment policies must be overhauled and updated.

He’s certainly right. In 2011, the Texas Legislature passed a law to stop bullying and cyberbullying. It required school districts to adopt their own policies.

However, the law is weakened by the lack of scope in addressing cyberbullying and by narrowing its jurisdiction to school.

It describes bullying as, “engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that occurs on school property, at a school-sponsored or school-related activity, or in a vehicle operated by the district.”

But what makes cyberbullying insidious and expansive in its capacity to torment is that it can be afflicted away from school and schoolrelated activities. David Molak was at home when he last read attacks against him on social media.

If Menendez would like a model for “David’s Law,” he may not find a better one than the Houston Independent School District’s Code of Conduct, which reads:

“Cyberbullying, at or away from campus, defined as the use of the Internet, cell phones or other devices to send, post, or text-message images and material intended to hurt or embarrass another student.”

It continues in admirable specificity but what HISD does is what current state law does not: hold students accountable for cyberbullying from wherever they are inflicting their pain. The reach of bullies must never be longer than our desire and ability to stop them.