BISMARCK -- All North Dakota school students deserve to be treated with respect, House members heard Monday, and agreed by passing Senate Bill 2216.

"We certainly don't need a Columbine to take place in North Dakota," said Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Wolford.

The bill school boards they must require respectful behavior from students and staff.

"All students and employees of the district, while on school property, involved in a school-related activity or in attendance at a school-sponsored event, conduct themselves in a manner that promotes respect for all individuals, " the bill states.

But not all House members wanted such a bill to become law.

"This could be another trial lawyers' annuity,' said Rep. Frank Wald, R-Dickinson, opposing the bill.

He and others complained that the bill's language was too wide open and, instead of preventing problems, could invite lawsuits.

"There's no definition of respect. My definition of respect may certainly depart from yours, with all due respect," he said. "I don't know why we want this kind of thing in the Century Code."

Nelson said the bill, as originally introduced in the Senate, could have opened up the potential for litigation. It called for staff and students to respect individuals regardless of people's age, color, economic status, gender, intellectual ability, physical ability, race, religion or sexual orientation. The Senate stripped out the specific language before it passed the bill earlier.

Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, asked what the penalty would be for bill violators.

Nelson said each school board is to set its own policy for dealing with complaints.

Rep. C.B. "Buck" Haas, R-Taylor, a retired Dickinson school superintendent, said, "It's about creating an environment, a climate where every student feels safe and secure and can be themselves without being bullied, without being harassed or intimidated by fellow classmates, by anyone else in that setting."

Rep. Rae Ann Kelsch, said it's too bad that a bill like SB 2216 has to be passed. Nonetheless, school harassment and bullying are getting worse, according to surveys of North Dakota parents and principals.

"I don't think it's fair for students in a school to bully someone else just because they're different, whether they be Jewish or Catholic or Presbyterian or, the part we just don't want to talk about is, their sexual orientation," she said.

Kelsch said the federal "No Child Left Behind" act requires states to provide safe schools.

The bill passed 55-37 after a half hour debate. It now goes back to the Senate for concurrence with House amendments.