All Kids Deserve to Be Safe from

Bullying: Jakes Story

By Tim Walker
On a sunny spring day last April on the steps of the state capitol, Minnesota Governor
Mark Dayton signed the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act into law. Of the
many speakers at the ceremony, the crowd cheered the loudest for 11-year-old Jake
Ross. Bullied mercilessly while in second grade, Jake turned his hurt into action and
became a tireless advocate for toughening up his states anti-bullying law, one of the
weakest in the nation.
The Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act is a comprehensive anti-bullying bill that
will require all schools in the state to have an anti-bullying policy that clearly defines
bullying, harassment, and intimidation, provides training and resources for students,
staff, and volunteers and lays out specific procedures school staff must follow when
bullying is reported.
To mark National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, Jake recently told his story to
NEA Today, detailing his personal struggle as a bullying victim and why he believes the
new law in his state will help reduce the problem.
When I was 7 years old and in 2nd grade I was the victim of on-going and repeated
bullying at the elementary school I attended. The bullying included physical harm,
verbal threats, intimidation, and stealing.
One of the worst incidents was during lunch and recess on February 2, 2010. While I
was eating lunch at our assigned classroom table in the cafeteria, one of the
bullying students stood up at the lunch table and said very loudly, Whos going to
help me beat up Jake today ?!
Following lunch, outside at recess I was cornered and attacked. I was pushed to the
ground repeatedly. I tried to get away, but I could not. When the recess whistle
finally blew and everyone went inside the school, the student who attacked me
yelled, Im going to kill you if you tell anyone! Im going to kill you tomorrow! This
made me feel scared because I was afraid that he might try to seriously injure me

the next day. I was scared for many more days following this attack, and I was
scared about what was going to happen to me next at school
My mom was really worried about me at school, too. She ate lunch with me and
came to recess. I told her about the harm that was happening to me at school, and
she reported these things to the school officials. The only consequence for the two
students who hurt me repeatedly was that they had to apologize even though the
bullying continued through the end of the school year. My mom asked the school
official to have the students moved to a different assigned table area in the
cafeteria the bullying usually happening at lunch and recess but the answer was
no. They told us they couldnt because they had to think about the kids the bullies
would then be sitting by. Because of this, I had to sit by the students who bullied
me every day.
Anti-Bullying
October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month. Find out more at NEAs
Bully-Free: It Starts With Me campaign. Resources include the NEA Bullying
Prevention Kit, 10 Steps to Stop and Prevent Bullying and the Bully Free: It Starts
With Me pledge.
My mom had a meeting with the school officials and asked to see the schools
policy and procedures for bullying. The school official told her that there were no
procedures and no list of consequences for bullying at the school.
Because it would not provide a safe learning environment for me, my parents took
me and my younger sister out of this school.
I quickly learned how common bullying is for so many students and I became
involved in anti-bullying awareness. I know what its like, and I didnt want it to
happen to any more kids. All kid deserve to be safe from bullying.
My role in advocating for the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act was as a
spokesperson for children and youth who have been bullied in schools. I publically
told my story of having been bullied, lobbied at the Minnesota State Capitol during
the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions and testified in favor of the bill at committee
hearings. I have been fortunate to get to know Senator Scott Dibble, who cosponsored the Safe and Supportive Schools Act. He is a role mode for me. I also
wrote newspaper guest commentary articles and letters-to-the-editor on Why I
support the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act. These were published in
our local newspapers. I also collected over 500 petition signatures in support of the

bill. At local community events, I provided information about the bill. I am still
involved in advocating for the law and its implementation in schools.
The Safe and Supportive Schools Act will help protect students from bullying by
changing the idea that bullying is just something that happens to kids to bullying
is something that hurts kids and it is not acceptable. This new law creates the
mindset that schools should be safe and inviting places for all students, and that all
students are accepted and valued.
I think the best parts of the new law are the enumerated protections and the use of
restorative justice practices.
Enumerated protection is important because it protects those students who are
likely to be bullied more often and more severely. It sends the message that its not
O.K. to bully anyone, even if they are different from you.
Restorative justice practices are an important part because punishing the bully
without teaching anything will not help stop the behavior over the long term. The
bully may continue the hurtful behavior throughout their school years and into
their adult years.
Restorative Justice helps all those involved in bullying situations by getting to the
reason why the bullying happened, and coming to an agreement that helps
everyone stop the harmful behavior and repair the harm that was done, so healing
can happen. All those involved, including the people harmed, witnesses, the harmdoer, community members, etc. come together and use a process that works
through the problem and reaches a consensus at the end that all agree to. This is
how bullying situations can be dealt with in a way that actually puts an end to the
harm.
I would tell three main things to kids who are being bullied. First, know that it is not
your fault. No one should blame you for the harm that is happening to you.
Bullying is a form of abuse, and anyone who is being abused needs help from
others. Second, tell a trusted adult about the bullying. This could be your parent,
other caring adult in your life, a teacher, coach, church youth leader. Finally, hang
around with other students who are nice as much as you can.
Video: Jake Ross at Safe Schools Bill Signing