The Fight Against Oppression in the Digital Age: Restructuring Minnesota’s Cyberbullying Law to Get with the Battle

Abstract

This Note will explore some of the difficulties in dealing with cyberbullying, the importance of finding a better solution, and how Minnesota’s current cyberbullying law can be drastically improved by analyzing pending legislation. Minnesota amended its bullying statute back in 2007 to include “electronic forms” of bullying in an attempt to deal with the increasing cyberbullying problem. This attempt has done little, except cause more confusion for local schools that are supposed to adopt their own policies. The U.S. Department of Education studied the bullying statutes of every state that had one in 2011. The Department introduced eleven key components that it found were part of most state legislation and that experts agreed were important to effective laws against bullying and cyberbullying. The latest bill to go through the Minnesota Legislature, H.F. 826, would completely reconstruct the Minnesota bullying statute and would provide much more guidance and instruction to local schools that want to create a safer learning environment for all. The author hopes this Note creates more awareness of the need for an updated cyberbullying law in Minnesota and helps raise the support needed to effect this change.