Most States Pass Bullying Laws, But Will They Work?

Bullying stories with tragic outcomes and anti-bullying campaigns alike are frequently in the news.

But a new Education Week article says the new state laws vary widely in design, with "measures seen as ranging from effective prevention to mere window dressing."

Some state laws, such as those in Massachusetts, specifically include online cyberbullying as one of the behaviors they aim to stop, while several state laws have yet to deal with the phenomenon. New Jersey provides one of the toughest and most detailed plans, mandating specific training and prevention programs, while in other regions, new state laws are little more then resolutions with no funding or programs to support school change. Public opinion in Massachusetts and New Jersey has been influenced by high-profile suicides of students who had suffered severely from harassment (the cases of Phoebe Prince in Massachusetts and Tyler Clementi in New Jersey, respectively).

The Education Week piece also cautions that some state laws may go to extremes in their attempts to punish. Louisiana's strict law threatens criminal conviction and up to six months in prison for cyber-bullying offenses, and Massachusetts attempts to punish bullying that happens outside of school hours and grounds, and outside of school networks and technology.

In winter 2011, Facing History and Ourselves is launching a new resource for students and teachers called Bullying: A Case Study in Ostracism, which provides tools for classrooms to launch thoughtful, in-depth discussions of inclusion, exclusion, and bullying.