A report released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention suggests that victims of school bullying, many of whom are students with disabilities, are often distanced from learning, disadvantaged academically, and are more likely to miss school.
According to the report, in order for anti-bullying programs to provide long-term positive outcomes, researchers should look toward broader efforts that make a difference in the lives of the victims. Likewise, schools must reach out to all bullying victims, using methods catered to the community’s specialized needs.
New research from the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that more than half of all adolescents with autism, intellectual disabilities, speech impairments and learning disabilities are bullied, as compared to about 10% of typically developing students. Authors of the study called on school leaders to develop and implement tailored anti-bullying programs to address the unique needs of these vulnerable adolescents.
Since 1999, state legislatures have adopted more than 120 bills intended to address bullying, harassment or similar behavior in schools. There are currently 46 states with anti-bullying laws, 36 with regulations that address cyber bullying and 13 that give schools the authority to monitor and address bullying behavior even when it occurs off school grounds.
New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, passed in 2010, is said to be one of the toughest anti-bullying legislation in the country.
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