Know Your Rights
As a Student
When Victimized by Bullying
What is Bullying & How is it Defined Under the Law?
Generally, bullying is defined as severe or pervasive physical or verbal acts or conduct, including electronic communications (such as on social media or via text messaging) that is directed at a student and that can:
Place a student in fear of harm to their person or property.
Cause a student to experience negative effects on their physical or mental health.
Substantially interfere with a student’s academic performance.
Substantially interfere with a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by the school.
Bullying can be verbal (e.g., name calling, inappropriate comments, taunting); social (e.g. intentionally isolating a student, spreading rumors about someone, etc.) or physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, pinching, etc.). Bullying can also be cyber and occur on digital devices and platforms such as text messages and social media apps.
School Requirements
-
Public schools in California are required to create and maintain an environment that is welcoming for all students, regardless of their identity such as their race, national origin, religion, immigration status, or gender.
Public schools must protect students against bullying and cyberbullying.
Specifically, public schools must:
Develop and enforce strong anti-bullying policies that clearly prohibit discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. These policies must also specify that targeting a student for bullying based on their identity, such as race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, or immigration status, is strictly prohibited.
Establish a policy and procedure for handling and investigating bullying complaints. This policy must include a timeline for investigating and resolving the complaints, as well as the process for appealing the investigations' findings.
Keep complaints confidential, as appropriate, and protect students who make complaints from any retaliation.
Require school personnel to immediately intervene if they witness bullying.
Promote and display their anti-bulling policies in schools, offices, and on websites.
Public schools must inform parents or legal guardians when a student is victimized or involved in an act of harassment, intimidation, cyber bullying, or bullying.
-
Yes!
Public schools’ policies must prohibit discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying that applies to all acts related to school activity or school attendance.
This includes cyber or electronic communication or in-person bullying that occurs off the school site by another student and that affects the school environment or the victimized student’s welfare.
-
While many of the laws that require anti-bullying measures only apply to public schools, some California anti-discrimination laws apply to private schools if they receive state funding.
If your private school receives federal funding, they may be subject to federal laws such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
While the categories protected under federal law are limited, they generally extend to protections against discrimination based on a victim’s religious identity when the discrimination overlaps with racial or national origin bias.
Many private schools have their own internal policies that prohibit bullying and harassment among students.
If private schools fail to protect a student against bullying, they may be breaching their contract with the student and/or violating civil rights laws.
What Should I Do if a Student is Being Bullied?
-
If it's safe, tell the bully to stop in a calm, clear manner.
If it’s safe, document every bullying incident by recording, capturing photos, or taking screen shots of cyberbullying. Write down all relevant details, including the date, time, location, and description of the incident. Be sure to note the name of any witnesses if applicable.
Report the incidents of bullying to teachers and/or school administrators who must investigate and address the bullying.
Report incidents of bullying to your parents.
Report incidents of bullying to organizations like CAIR-CA.
-
Talk to your student about bullying and record the following:
Who is doing the bullying?
What happened? What type of bullying was it?
What days and times was the student bullied?
Where did the bullying take place?
Did the student report the bullying to anyone at school?
Report threats or acts of physical harm to the police.
Report the bullying to the school and the district.
Keep detailed records of everything, including any communications with the school, the individuals you spoke with, and the content of those conversations. After speaking with someone over the phone or in-person, consider sending a follow-up email to document the conversation.
Report incidents of bullying to organizations like CAIR-CA.
California law provides a formal complaint process under the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) law.
A complaint under the UCP is a written and signed statement alleging a violation of federal or state laws, including the failure to address discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying against a student because of their identity such as their religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status.
A complaint must be filed by a student or the student’s legally authorized representative, such as their parent or attorney.
The school must investigate and resolve the complaint within 60 calendar days of receipt of the complaint.
Schools and districts must provide accessible information on how to file a complaint for students and their families and ensure it is published on the school’s website.
Complaints must be filed within six months of the date when the alleged bullying occurred.
If you believe the school’s decision was wrong, you may file a written appeal to the California Department of Education within 30 calendar days of receiving the school's decision.