An Overview of State Anti-Bullying Legislation and Other Related Laws

Abstract

As a part of its collaboration with the Born This Way Foundation, the Berkman Center is publishing a series of papers that synthesize existing peer-reviewed research or equivalent scholarship and provide research-grounded insight to the variety of stakeholders working on issues related to youth empowerment and action towards creating a kinder, braver world. This series, called the The Kinder & Braver World Project: Research Series (Danah Boyd and John Palfrey, editors), is presented by the Born This Way Foundation & the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and supported by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The first set of papers, which were intended to provide insights to the new foundation, involved topics related to Youth Meanness and Cruelty.This document provides an overview, as of January 2012, of existing state anti-bullying laws, pending state and federal anti-bullying legislation, and other relevant federal and state laws. It is meant to inform the discussion of legal policy issues around bullying, in particular at the Symposium on Youth Meanness and Cruelty being held at Harvard Law School on February 29, 2012 as part of the Kinder & Braver World Project.This document, including the Tables in Appendix 1, was created by analyzing the anti-bullying laws of the 48 states with such laws, as well as reviewing pending legislation and related laws. The document and tables break out provisions of the state statutes that the authors consider important to engender positive cross-disciplinary discussion at the Symposium. The language in the state statutes is incredibly varied and complex, and this area of the law is constantly evolving. Many additional areas of inquiry are sure to arise at the Symposium and beyond. Thus, this document is a working draft.