Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson called for stronger anti-bullying laws at a press conference on Wednesday. Swanson wants Minnesota’s law to reflect a recent one passed in North Dakota. Minnesota’s seen heightened scrutiny over bullying policies in light of anti-Muslim bullying in St. Cloud and anti-LGBT bulling in the Anoka-Hennepin School District.
“No child should be afraid to go to school because of bullying. While policies and reporting cannot stop all bullying, they can set a strong tone and school culture against it,” Swanson said in a statement.
She talked about the fact that many incidences of bullying go unreported.
Swanson wants to model Minnesota law after one that was recently passed in North Dakota. That bill would require school district to develop comprehensive anti-bullying programs that would include anti-bullying education from kindergarten to 12th grade, and schools the that follow the letter of the anti-bullying law would have immunity in bullying-related lawsuits.
The bill is not quite the same as one pushed by DFLers in recent years in Minnesota that spelled out categories of students who would be protected from bullying such as disabled students and LGBT students.
The Uptake has video of Swanson’s press conference: