Anti-Bullying Law
Every time we see a story about bullying on television, parents of children worry that their child is being bullied. The problem with school violence is that it’s hard for parents to know if kids don’t talk about it, and the psychological damage it can do to a growing child is serious and cannot be overlooked. To minimize this damage, some states have enacted laws to prevent school violence, and New Jersey is one of them.
An ongoing lawsuit related to school violence has garnered a lot of attention. In that case, the plaintiff, a 17-year-old high school student, sued his schoolmates. According to the complaint, the plaintiff was teased by the defendant students for four years, from fourth through eighth grade, saying he was fat and that he might be gay. The defendants even allegedly played severe pranks on the plaintiff during lunch, such as throwing plates at him and pulling his pants down in front of his classmates. As a result, the plaintiff developed an eating disorder and was hospitalized. Eventually, the plaintiff sued the defendants and the school, seeking damages. While it makes sense to sue the offending students, it might seem surprising to sue the school as well. The basis for suing the school is that the students and their parents reported the defendant students’ severe pranks to the school, but the school failed to take appropriate action.
The statute involved in this ongoing case is New Jersey’s anti-bullying law. This law requires schools to take appropriate steps to ensure that students are not subjected to harassment, intimidation, or violence (Harassment, Intimidation & Bullying (HIB)) in the school setting. This law does not apply to all schools, but only to public schools.
So, what are the different types of school violence that are covered under the law? The law defines bullying as conduct, written or spoken, that is directed at a student’s race, religion, national origin, sex, physical characteristics, or disability and that, in the opinion of a reasonable person in the context of the situation, is so outrageous that the student feels insulted or is subjected to so much emotional distress that it severely or pervasively causes physical or emotional harm to the student N.J.S.A. 18A:37-14. For example, spreading rumors to isolate and ostracize one group of friends from another is also behavior prohibited by the bullying law. This can be a one-time event or an ongoing pattern of behavior that is repeated over and over again. The statute also includes actions, writings, or words over chat or the internet, so verbal abuse in Facebook or email chats could be covered.
One of the biggest arguments between the victim, the perpetrator, and their parents is that the perpetrator believes it was a disagreement or a simple argument, while the victim believes it was violence. It also makes a difference that different ages have slightly different standards for determining what constitutes violence. According to the state, among children at the elementary school level, “You look just like my drawing. You stole my idea.” is considered an altercation, but when a child rips up another child’s drawing or uses a racial slur, it’s considered school violence. And for high school students, when one student posts on Facebook about another student’s sexual identity, it’s considered verbal abuse.
As kids grow up, it’s normal for them to have conflicts and arguments with other kids around them. However, if your child is being victimized by bullying, it’s important to take legal action to make sure they don’t get hurt. If you have any further questions about anti-bullying laws, or if there are any laws you’d like our readers to know about, please don’t hesitate to contact us at mail@songlawfirm.com. I’ll include it in my next column.