Bill Text: GA SR444 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled

Georgia Senate Resolution 444 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Wells, Brittany Sharnay; remembering

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-03-26 - Senate Passed/Adopted [SR444 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2009-SR444-Enrolled.html

09 LC 33 3206S(SCS)

Senate Resolution 444

By: Senators Butler of the 55th, Reed of the 35th, Buckner of the 44th, Seay of the 34th, Orrock of the 36th and others

ADOPTED SENATE

A RESOLUTION

Remembering the life of Brittany Sharnay Wells and endorsing the establishment of the Brittany Sharnay Wells Act in her honor; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, Brittany Sharnay Wells was a beautiful and extraordinary young woman and Georgia teenager, whose life ended tragically as a result of an act of teen dating violence; and

WHEREAS, teen dating violence is a pattern of controlling and abusive behavior of one person over another within a personal relationship which includes verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; and

WHEREAS, due to their youth and inexperience, teens are more vulnerable to dating violence and less likely to recognize an abusive situation; and

WHEREAS, teen dating violence has become a prevalent problem in high schools and middle schools across America, and one in three teens report experiencing some kind of abuse in their romantic relationships; and

WHEREAS, girls and women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence, and of the young women murdered each year between the ages of 15 and 19, 30 percent are killed by their boyfriend or husband; and

WHEREAS, recent studies have shown that teen dating violence is starting at an early age, reporting that many 11 to 14 year olds are able to identify aspects of teen dating abuse in their social lives; and

WHEREAS, early abusive relationship experiences can be a precursor to dating violence and abuse among older teens and can perpetuate a culture of acceptance of this type of behavior within our society; and

WHEREAS, education is the best mechanism to stop teen dating violence and is crucial to create a culture of intolerance for teen dating abuse; and

WHEREAS, the Brittany Sharnay Wells Act would require educational and school policies that would teach Georgia students to recognize dating violence, help prevent dating violence among our state's young persons, and help protect Georgia parents from the greatest of all tragedies: losing a child; and

WHEREAS, at the 2008 Summer Meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General, attorneys general from across the nation including Georgia's own Attorney General Thurbert Baker passed a resolution encouraging schools to develop teen dating violence awareness curriculums.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body join together to express their deepest regret at the passing of Brittany Sharnay Wells, extend their most sincere condolences to her family, and do hereby endorse the establishment of the Brittany Sharnay Wells Act in her honor.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the family of Brittany Sharnay Wells.