Karen Kaplan with the Los Angeles Times, reprinted in the June 4, 2015, Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a recent study that “nearly 30 percent of cases of depression among adults” can be traced by to bullying during childhood.

So, thanks again to the House and Senate DFL Caucuses for their work to pass the Safe and Supportive Schools act.

And, when it comes to the 2016 election, remember that our House District 48B Representative, Jenifer Loon, and Senate District 48 Senator David Hann both voted against this bill.

Here’s a link to the above article.

anti-bullying bill · bullying · depression · House DFL Caucus · safe and supportive schools · Senate DFL Caucus

Bill Briggs on the NBC News website posted an article discussing a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study showing that bullied students are sneaking hundred of thousands of firearms, knives and clubs into U.S. high schools.

Students who feel threatened or injured by a weapon on school property were eight times more likely to then carry a weapon there. And, the more often a student is bullied, the more likely that student is to take a weapon back to school.

Thank you, Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate for passing the Safe School Act to help protect all our students.

You can read the full post here.

anti-bullying bill · bullying · Safe Schools Act · U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

As our legislators debate the Safe Schools bill to protect our children (which Sen. Hann and Rep. Loon do not support), the Christian Science Monitor reported on March 11, 2014, on new research published in JAMA Pediatrics.

The study found that bullied school aged children are twice as likely as non-bullied peers to become suicidal to the point of attempting to take their own lives.

“Bulling is indeed an important risk factor for one of the most prevalent caucuses of adolescent mortality,” said Mitch van Geel, one of the researchers.

Being bullied face-to-face increases a child’s risk of suicidal thoughts about 2.16 times. Being cyber bullied makes a child three times as likely to consider killing him or herself.

You can read the full article here.

bullying · cyber bullying · Safe Schools Act