Alright, so if you live in Minnesota and follow any policy or MN local politics, you have heard of the highly contested anti bullying legislation going through the MN Senate now.
First, no child should be bullied for any reason. All children should feel safe and supported in their learning environment. I totally understand what that is like since I came to the U.S at a very young age and as the new kid, the new immigrant & the only Black in many classes was bullied.
However, whenever that happened my family were notified along with the other child’s family.
HF 826 wants to take away parent notification and parent involvement. It wants to leave that decision to the school district. Let’s think about that for a minute. For example, we know that Minnesota has a horrible record in suspending and expelling minority children, especially Black and Latino at a disproportionately high rate. We also know children of color are years behind in education and testing as we have one of the worst education gap between Black and White students.
But as that was not enough power given to school districts that clearly have failed our communities, HF 826 wants to give them even more authority to not even inform a parent if their child bullied or was bullied. Imagine being out of the loop of such important decision of your child’s life. Then imagine your kid being labeled a bully and you were not aware because the school district with the already bad record decided to keep you out of the loop.
Furthermore, if you work with children with autism – you know that many of them are routine oriented and repeat the same sentence or words over and over. They can say something they heard a month or even a year ago maybe at a mosque or in your home anywhere without regard of its consequences. Imagine if your child with autism maybe heard your culture or religious values which you have a right to instill in your family and then repeated that in school to another student who might find it offensive. He is now going to be labeled a bully and you as a parent might not even be aware of it.
This bill has a language that includes putting your child’s disability in their IEP, but the problem is the parent has to request that. And, if you have a child with special needs – you understand how confusing, complex and intimidating IDEA law is which governs IEPs. Therefore, rather than protecting ALL kids from any bullying and empowering families while educating staff – HF 826 sadly wants to bully parents or those with different values, culture or religion by keeping them in the dark and out of the loop.
I think it will increase the already horrible high rate of Black and Latino suspension rate. It will also leave all parents out of the loop which is hurtful, especially parents with children with Autism.
Do we need a statewide anti bullying legislation that assures the safety and support of all children. Of course. However, it should be one that is fair, equitable and empowers parents. If you are a Somali that works in a school district and helps parents, please let them know of this bill. It will negatively impact their families because they will no longer have rights of knowing what happened in school. This will diminish parents responsibilities because they will be in the dark and how do you parent when you are out of the loop of your child’s behavior in school.
Here is the current language of HF826:
Here is the high rate of Black children suspended from school:
Here is some information on when autistic children just repeat words/sentence:
Thanks!
Idil – Somali Autism Mom & Minority Advocate