To prevent bullying, what schools do often more important than
policyby Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio St. Paul, Minn. —
Several experts, teachers and other school officials note that
bullying policies are never as important as what actually
happens in school. As part of a six-month MPR News investigation
on bullying in Minnesota, we visited schools to learn what they
are doing to address bullying. Anecdotally, it seems every
school is doing something to prevent bullying: from having
students make posters to holding assemblies and even training
sessions for students and adults to teach about addressing
bullying. School officials almost always say it's crucial to
create a culture at school where bullying is not accepted. If
you can change that culture, you've changed something that had
long been considered just a normal part of growing up. However,
Nancy Riestenberg, with the Minnesota Department of Education,
said the state does not track what schools are doing to prevent
bullying. She said finite resource