Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Bullying and harassment foster a climate of fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the physical and psychological health of its victims and create conditions that negatively affect learning, thereby undermining the ability of students to achieve their full potential. (2) Bullying and harassment contribute to high dropout rates, increased absenteeism, and academic underachievement. (3) Bullying and harassment include a range of behaviors that negatively impact a student’s ability to learn and participate in educational opportunities and activities that schools offer. Such behaviors can include hitting or punching, name-calling, intimidation through gestures or social exclusion, and sending insulting or offensive messages through electronic communications, such as internet sites, e-mail, instant messaging, mobile phones and messaging, telephone, or any other means. (4) Schools with enumerated anti-bullying and harassment policies have an increased level of reporting and teacher intervention in incidents of bullying and harassment, thereby reducing the overall frequency and number of such incidents. (5) Students have been particularly singled out for bullying and harassment on the basis of their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics (including intersex traits), or religion, among other categories. (6) Some young people experience a form of bullying called relational aggression or psychological bullying, which harms individuals by damaging, threatening, or manipulating their relationships with their peers, or by injuring their feelings of social acceptance. (7) Interventions to address bullying and harassment should incorporate evidence-based discipline policies and practices, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and other restorative practices that can minimize suspensions, expulsions, and other exclusionary and harmful discipline policies to ensure that students are not pushed-out or diverted to the juvenile justice system. (8) Perpetrators of bullying and harassment often have a history of trauma or psychological distress, or have been bullied themselves. These students, often discussed as bully-victims, require additional trauma-informed interventions and consideration.