Amanda Wilkinson testifies on bullying in schools and single mother advocacy

The first Zoom registrant is Amanda Wilkinson.

You may begin.

Hi, good afternoon everyone and thank you Chair Stevens and the Committee on Children and Youth.

I am a single mother.

I am a healthcare provider and mandated reporter in the city of New York.

I'm here in Harlem, West Harlem.

As a mother and as an advocate for my own child, but also in community,

I have brought more awareness and I've heard more awareness from other parents who have had the unfortunate experience of immense and intense bullying, physical assault and harm

within schools where their children were not safe.

But when these reports were being made.

With school staff by the students or the parents.

Those reports were ignored.

They were not addressed in any way.

And when reporting has to go above the school leadership, it becomes a hopeless...

Does this have to do with cornerstones or beacon or any of the resolutions?

Otherwise, we need you to stay on topic.

Understood.

I'd love to submit my proposal.

And I actually do have some comments, and I'm actually very happy to hear about the cornerstone and the father's initiatives.

Being a single mother.

It is nice and refreshing to hear that fathers do want to take the initiative because, unfortunately,

I'm also an advocate for mothers who can't find resolution in having support for their children, like myself.

Not being able to afford also legal representation or any advocacy when the fathers are absent and they don't have

the ability to receive child support or any services that their children do deserve and need by state law.

So I would love to also support mothers in that way and somehow and with community help, but I would also somehow even like to support the fathers who are taking the initiative too, because it's a community, it's a collaborative community.

There's two sides of it as well, but I'm glad to see that.

Thank you.

Your time has expired.

Thank you.