A handpicked collection of 15 prominent Minnesotans got to work Monday on an ambitious task: creating a state where school kids are free from bullying, harassment and intimidation.
Gov. Mark Dayton's Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying -- an enthusiastic group culled from a pool of more than 80 -- met for the first time, with members representing education, mental health, politics, diversity advocacy and law.
"We are beginning to acknowledge the fact that bullying is a public health issue, a mental health issue and a physical health issue," said Walter Roberts, an anti-bullying expert from Minnesota State University, Mankato. "Reports are coming in at such a level that we can't ignore it anymore."
Last year, a national watchdog group gave Minnesota's bullying law a C-minus, the lowest passing grade in the country. In the course of a week last fall, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced her intention to strengthen anti-bullying statutes, and Dayton signed the executive order creating the task force. It was charged with researching the issue, drafting recommendations and submitting a report to him by Aug. 1.
Task force members noted that bullying prevention is an urgent topic, not just in Minnesota but across the country, in the wake of a spate of bullying-related teen suicides nationwide. The issue has had attention from U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who is sponsoring an anti-bullying measure in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, the Anoka-Hennepin School District settled a widely followed anti-bullying lawsuit with a pledge to make schools safer for all students.
First steps
The task force didn't change the world at its first meeting, at the state Department of Education offices in Roseville. But it appointed Roberts and Julie Hertzog, director of PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center, to be co-chairs. They also discussed goals and reviewed the laws and policies already on the books.
Minnesota's 37-word anti-bullying statute instructs school boards to adopt their own policies barring intimidation and bullying, and requires them to include electronic media. The task force learned that although there are more references to harassment on the books in Minnesota, few apply to children. In fact, more laws protect animals from harassment, noted assistant education commissioner Rose Hermodson, who led much of the meeting.
