Laws on School Bullying
Nearly all schoolchildren are affected by bullying during their school career. Being bullied was once considered a rite of passage to be endured by all schoolchildren, but the school shootings of the late 1990s have thrust the issue to the forefront and led to the enactment of laws prohibiting bullying and protecting victims. At least 15 states currently have laws addressing bullying in schools.
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Purpose
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Anti-bullying laws are designed to foster a healthy learning environment in schools by preventing the fear and intimidation that bullies cause. The theory is that children can not learn to their full potential when they are also dealing with harassment and intimidation. The laws also seek to protect children from the lifelong damage that bullying is believed to cause to its victims.I
Definition
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Each state that addresses bullying has a slightly different definition for bullying. Bullying is generally defined as any verbal or physical expression that causes or threatens harm. This broad definition includes everything from a threat to steal lunch money to a shove on the playground. It is important that the definition of bullying be broad enough to include all threatening behavior, and yet specific enough for schoolchildren to understand what is prohibited.
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The laws
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The laws concerning bullying vary as much as the definitions. Some laws require that schools implement a bullying prevention program. Other states require that employees be trained on how to prevent bullying in their schools. Other states focus on disciplining bullies and reporting incidents of bullying to state officials.
Assault
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If your child is being bullied, and the school is not taking action, it is important to remember that assault is a crime regardless of whether your state has a bullying law. You can contact the local police department to report the crime. Even in the absence of a bullying law there are legal remedies that you can pursue to protect your child from a schoolyard bully.
Other remedies
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There have also been successful civil lawsuits brought against schools that refused to address a bullying problem. If a school has had notice of a bullying problem and refused to take action to protect a victim of bullying, a civil suit might be the best remedy. Parents have successfully sued schools that allowed bullying to progress to the point that a child was seriously injured by bullies.
Limitations
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Many of the bullying laws only address bullying that occurs on school grounds. Those laws do nothing to protect children from being bullied on their way to school or in their neighborhoods. It is important that parents watch out for their children and their safety at all times.
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