DES MOINES (AP) — A Des Moines Democrat wants to require that school harassment policies address the issue of student bullying on social networking sites.
Rep. Bruce Hunter introduced a bill Monday that would update state guidelines for district bullying and harassment policies to include so-called cyberbullying. It also would require that all alleged incidents be reported to school administrators.
Hunter says Iowa law doesn’t now recognize bullying that occurs outside school on social media sites like Facebook.
The bill would affect students at all public and accredited nonpublic prekindergarten through 12th grade schools.
Hunter’s bill is support by 21 Democrats but no Republicans. Although Hunter says he expect his proposal to get bipartisan support, he was unsure whether it will be approved in the House, where Republicans hold a majority.