A seventh grader from Nashville appears to have taken her own life after being repeatedly bullied at school. The 12-year old was physically hit and taunted by a group of students who had a reputation for bullying, which got so bad that the victim’s mother pulled her out of school in late October...
The Walker County Board of Education recently received a grant through the Alabama State Department of Education to start the “Peer Helpers” program. The program is designed to provide a support network for students.
The “Peer Helpers” program will train students and teachers to become support...
School bullying can seriously impact a student’s safety. Victims and witnesses to the bullying may be fearful of the bully, and may be reluctant to report the incident. However, a mobile app called STOPit enables students and parents to report bullying without revealing their identity. The app...
According to working research circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the increase in anti-bullying laws across the U.S. is associated with reduced bullying, depression and thoughts of suicide amongst teenagers.
The researchers studied death rates and student behavioral surveys...
In November 2019, a video depicting a physical altercation between two high school classmates over anti-gay name-calling went viral. Shared widely on Twitter, the video draws attention to what some call a “systemic failure” to address the prevalence of anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools. Unfortunately,...
A new program called Roots of Empathy brings babies into classrooms to cut down on bullying by teaching empathy. Baby Finn visits third-graders at Meridian Park Elementary near Seattle every month. The students’ interactions with the baby helps reduce aggression among students while increasing...
A high school senior bullied for years by classmates recently graduated from her Texas school. For years, bullies made fun of the 18-year-old, teasing her about her weight, outfits, and social status. According to the victim, some bullies went so far as to say she should kill herself.
The student...
In Michigan, over 20% of high-school students reported bullying at school. Almost 9% of Michigan high school students did not go to school because they felt unsafe due to bullying. Yet students in the state struggle to transfer schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A victim of bullying...
Third-grader Gabriel Taye was bullied at school on the day he hung himself in January 2017, according to attorneys representing the boy’s family in a case against Cincinnati Public Schools and school officials. Two days prior to the tragedy, the 8-year old Carson Elementary School student was...
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced nearly all students to spend an increased amount of time in front of a computer screen. When in-person social interaction is not an option, many students turn to social media to keep up with friends. However, more time online creates more opportunities for students...
A lawsuit, filed in December 2019, claims a first grader was bullied and sexually abused by another student at Audubon Elementary on Merritt Island, FL. The complaint alleges that the school board was negligent in handling a series of incidents that were reported between October 2016 and May 2017,...
The mother of a young boy has filed a lawsuit against Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The case alleges that the school district neglected to protect the boy from severe bullying. The student attends Grant Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA.
The boy’s mother contends that school...
A lawsuit filed against Gloucester County Special Services School District Board of Education addresses faith-based bullying of a Sikh student. The student, a minor, was allegedly suffering from bullying since 2018 due his religion and perceived race. The Sikh Coalition, a community-based organization...
A 20-year old Harvard student was recently named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 social impact list. Her contributions to stop cyberbullying led her to the honor.
The first-generation Indian immigrant was the victim of cyberbullying herself, which prompted her to create a new technology called ReThink....
Earlier this summer, a bill was passed by New York lawmakers to establish a cohort to study cyberbullying in the state. The nine-member task force includes experts from the fields of child psychology, mental health, technology, among others, to combat online bullying. The goal of the group is...
Bullying is a generations-old concept that has become incredibly pervasive in recent years. School bullying in particular can have a serious impact on a child’s life, including potentially threatening or actually taking his or her own life. With the increased use of technology, bullies have found...
Back in September 2019, when a fourth-grader from Orlando was teased and made fun of for creating his own University of Tennessee t-shirt for a spirit event, the university stepped in and sold his shirt design in the campus shop. Proceeds from the 112,715 t-shirts purchased have reached nearly...
With online schooling becoming the “new normal” over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cyberbullying has dramatically increased among students. The shift from traditional classroom settings to remote learning can make it easier for bullies to target victims.
Cyberbullying can have devastating...
Bullying in schools has become an increasing problem across the United States, but for one school, Federal Way public schools in Washington, instances of school bullying were out of control. Moreover, between 2013 and 2015, complaints were made that Federal Way was not properly investigating...
Maryland Senator Michael Hough introduced a new bill in response to school bullying. The bill aims to hold school bullies responsible for their actions. It asks that school boards require bullies to do several things:
Apologize to the student they bullied
Return any objects stolen from the...
