7. Law and Policy

 

Please read Chapter 6: Law and Policy

OVERVIEW OF RELEVANT LAW AND POLICY

Federal Law and Policy There is no specific federal law on bullying. However, federal law and policy provide a framework for many of the responses to bullying. Federal law offers protections and remedies for certain individuals, while federal agency guidelines provide recommendations to states and localities developing and assessing their responses to bullying. Civil rights and anti-discrimination laws secure rights for protected classes of individuals if they have been subjected to harassment. Relevant federal law—which is overseen and enforced by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education—prohibits discrimination based on the following traits (U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2010b; U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2012): race, color, or national origin;2,3 sex;2,3,4 disability;5,6,7 and religion.

Schools can be found in violation of these federal laws and relevant implementing regulations when bullying is based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or religion and is “sufficiently serious that it creates a hostile environment and such harassment is encouraged, tolerated, not adequately addressed, or ignored by school employees” (U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2010b, p. 1).

In other words, schools have a legal responsibility for maintaining safe environments that enable children and adolescents to pursue the education and other services or opportunities available at that school. Under the same authorities, schools are responsible for addressing harassment that school administrators and teachers are aware of or that they should reasonably have known about. In such cases, schools must take immediate and appropriate action to address the harassment. In addition to the above, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) offers further protections for select students.8 It requires states that receive federal education funding to provide children with disabilities a free appropriate public education. That education must be provided in the least restrictive environment and in conformity with an individualized education program. 9

Therefore, if bullying interferes with a covered child’s access to an appropriate public education, a claim can be brought against the school for failing to secure such an environment. Unlike remedies under the civil rights laws cited above, an IDEA claim typically does not lead to compensatory damages. Instead it can result in the school being required to take specific steps to ensure the child has access to an appropriate education. The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice oversee and enforce federal law addressing discrimination and harassment.