As our schools play increasingly important roles in the social and emotional health and development of our children, laws are following suit and addressing issues like bullying and cyberbullying.
Historically, bullying has been addressed through existing criminal and civil statutes prohibiting discriminatory harassment, assault, and various other offenses. For example, federal education law requires that schools receiving federal funding must take action to address discriminatory harassment based on race, disability, religion, or other protected groups, that is so severe that it affects the victim’s ability to participate in school activities (see, e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the IDEA).
Click here to read the whole article