Bullying is a serious problem in schools, and it affects children with learning and cognitive differences disproportionately. Also, the effects of bullying can be devastating. It has a negative impact on children’s academic performance as well as their sense of self-worth. Thankfully, laws exist to protect children from bullying and require schools to take action when it occurs.

This article will explain the legal protections in place to stop your child from being bullied, including measures to deal with cyberbullying.

Bullying Definition

The term “bullying” refers to any kind of behavior in which one student repeatedly or repeatedly harasses, intimidates, or harms another student, either verbally, physically, or mentally. Bullies usually rely on an imbalance of power to get their way. Bullying can take many forms, from making fun of someone’s appearance to using physical force. While anti-bullying statutes vary by state, virtually all of them mandate that educational institutions and districts develop and implement plans for addressing bullying incidents after they have been reported.

Federal equal protection rules may be violated if bullying is instigated because of the victim’s race, ethnicity, or religion. It’s possible that the way a person identifies their gender or their sexual orientation is covered by local and state regulations. In most cases, schools can only consider bullying to have occurred if they can demonstrate that a student:

• injured or threatened another pupil.
• perpetrated bullying behavior while attending or representing a school.
• affected the student’s ability to learn.

How Does Cyberbullying Impact Learning?

When a student is bullied using electronic devices, this is known as cyberbullying. Because of the proliferation of social media platforms, cyberbullying has emerged as a major problem. Rather than proving that bullying occurred on school grounds, schools need only show that it had a negative impact on learning. Therefore, cyberbullying policies may be broken even if a student sends a message to another student from their own home.

When will bullying be considered a crime?

If bullying includes conduct that is illegal where you live, it may be classified as criminal behavior. Harassment, threats, physical bullying, theft, and hazing are all forms of bullying that could result in misdemeanor charges. Under certain circumstances, bullying can become a crime. Crimes of harassment or stalking may be prosecuted in some states when cyberbullying occurs.

How to prevent bullying behavior from escalating?

Nationwide, educators and legislators are making strides toward a more comprehensive understanding of and response to bullying. However, this is not an easy task, and preventing bullying will be an ongoing struggle.

There probably won’t be a time when there are no bullies in the world. If you see bullying occurring at your school, you can tell the administration about it.