Alabama state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, has pre-filed a bill that would require public high school students to receive instruction in violence prevention, conflict resolution, and mediation before graduation.
Under SB34, public school students entering ninth grade in the 2026-2027 school year would complete a course or program in violence prevention, conflict resolution, and mediation before they could graduate from high school, according to the bill’s text.
The course would be required to cover all of the following topics:
- Responsible decision-making.
- The causes and effects of school violence and harassment, cultural diversity, and nonviolent methods for resolving conflict, including peer mediation.
- The consequences of violent behavior.
- The causes of violent reactions to conflict.
- Nonviolent conflict resolution techniques.
- The relationship between drugs, alcohol, and violence.
- The implementation of voluntary peer mediation programs and the integration of conflict resolution models in classrooms.
The bill states that each local board of education would be able to choose their own curriculum for satisfying the requirements.
Teachers would receive additional training from the State Department of Education on these topics, the bill says.
Smitherman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
But he has been outspoken about pushing legislation to reduce violent crimes in his district in response to the Sept. 21 mass shooting at Hush Lounge.
The shooting, which occurred in Birmingham’s Five Points South entertainment district, killed four and left 17 injured.
The senator has also prefiled another bill, SB33, that would require couples to take at least one conflict resolution class before they can get married in the hopes of reducing domestic violence occurrences.