New and resumed interactions that accompany the start of a new school year create new bullying risks.
The federal government and many states have laws and other rules that make bullying illegal or civilly actionable in schools and other locations in the number of circumstances. See e.g Texas Anti-Bullying Laws. While these laws may help deter or partially redress the effects of some bullying under some circumstances, victims of bullying and family, friends, school, business, community and government leaders trying to prevent an address it know it the law rarely provides an adequate tool to stop all bullying, much less provide quick or reliable protection or relief for those targeted by bullies.
Help protect your child and others by educating yourself, your child and family, your teachers and school leaders, and friends that bullying is wrong, how to recognize it and what to do to prevent and remedy it.
STOPBULLYING.gov is one of many free websites that provides valuable resources about bullying, why it’s wrong and harmful, laws and other rules that help to prohibit and regress it and a host of other helpful resources to prevent and help people cope with bullying problems.
The best way to prevent or stop bullying is for everyone to step up and fight it. Step up to stomp out bullying. Teach and require your children and others to treat others with respect and to expect and require those around them to do the same. When someone is being bullied, use the tools from these resources to defend yourself or the other victims in a constructive way. Uniform zero intolerance is the best and most reliable redress and cure for bad behavior.