Wyoming Department of Education says anti-bullying efforts are important

    The State Department of Education says school districts developing anti-bullying plans will do a lot to improve not only behavior, but education in the state.  Wyoming’s most recent youth risk behavior survey found that a quarter of high school students and better than 50 percent of middle school students in the state experienced bullying.  Superintendent of Schools Cindy Hill said bullying is unacceptable.  She said they have found that schools with no tolerance for bullying actually are higher performing schools and Hill says that is not surprising.

Hill-“Learning takes place when kids are safe.  And there is a real finite focus in making certain that learning is a focus in schools and that they are not distracted by other things.”

Hill said the state is making progress in tackling the problem, but more needs to be done.  She said districts are now unveiling efforts to tackle bullying thanks to recently passed legislation.  Hill said if they can get students and parents to either intervene or report it, then they can make more headway.