Illinois’ new anti-bullying law gets parents involved sooner
Illinois’ public, private, and charter schools are now required to inform parents and guardians sooner if their child is involved in bullying.
Driving the news: Gov. JB Pritzker last week approved an update to the state’s anti-bullying law that shortens the window schools have to contact parents if their student is bullying, or the target of bullying, to 24 hours — up from 10 days.
Why it matters: Supporters say the 24-hour notification change will enable parents to intervene more quickly.
- The bill also creates a fund for cyber-safety education in schools.
Zoom in: Chicago Public Schools already had a bullying reporting standard of one school day.
- “We were proud to develop an anti-bullying policy that went even further than what was previously required by state law,” a CPS spokesperson tells Axios.
- The district is “committed to reviewing the updated state law to determine what, if any, updates are needed to ensure our policy complies.”
What they’re saying: Many parents don’t know when their kids are involved in bullying at school or online, Rob Bronstein tells Axios.
- Bronstein and his wife, Rose, have been pushing for clearer legislative language since last year after their 15-year-old son Nate died by suicide. Nate, a student at Latin School of Chicago, was relentlessly cyberbullied, his parents say.
- The Bronsteins sued Latin, alleging teachers at the school knew about their son’s bullying but didn’t contact them about it early enough.
- Latin School didn’t respond to Axios with comment, but it has called the allegations of wrongdoing “inaccurate and misplaced.”
