Education researchers say Missouri could do more to prevent bullying

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – Bullying is a top concern for student safety in Missouri, according to state data, and bullying prevention researchers say there is more the state could do to equip schools to deal with this.

Chad Rose, PhD, began researching bullying prevention after noticing the lack of resources when he worked as a special education teacher. Now he’s moving his Bullying Prevention Lab into its own space at the University of Missouri, where he will work with college graduate and undergrad students to equip schools to intervene in bullying.

Data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s anonymous tip line Courage2Report shows that bullying was the most common tip submitted this year, with 232 tips on bullying from July 2023 to June 2024. The next highest was 170 tips on threats to kill, followed by 115 school shooting threats.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education denied an interview. A DESE spokesperson said in an email that individuals with questions about bullying should start by talking with a teacher and move up the chain of command at the school.

Rose and his students are doing their part to address this issue, but he said there is more the state could do.

“We’re telling schools they have to do something about it, yet, not giving them the tools, resources and support to do those things,” Rose said.

Missouri law requires every school to have an anti-bullying policy, but the state does not provide a sample policy or any additional funding to help implement a policy.

“In the state of Missouri, we don’t have a model policy,” Rose said. “We have state legislation, but not a model policy. It would be great if we could start there, but also providing schools with the resources necessary to do things related to functional and social skills.”

A bipartisan bill called the Missouri Childhood Hero Act would have laid out more concrete policies on exactly how a school should address bullying, but the bill did not make it to the finish line this year.

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