If you are an avid reader of my blog, you know that Florida has one of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country. Enacted in 2008, the law mandates 67 Florida school districts to document and investigate EVERY bullying complaint in their respective district. Is that happening? NO
Just this month the Tampa Tribune released Florida's School Districts Bullying statistics.
Nine Districts reported no incidences of bullying cases. Gilchrist County which is located in North Florida has four schools for a total of 2800 students. officials state that once bullying is reported, officials go to the student and put an immediate stop to the bullying. They claim that immediacy works and the bullying stops.
Palm Beach County which is on the west coast of Florida has 172,000 students. During the 2008-2010 school year, 4,000 cases of bullying was reported. Hillsborough County was ranked in the top of most reported bullying cases, with 192,000 students, 368 cases of bullying was reported. Miami Dade with 345,000 students had seven reported incidences of bullying one year and 802 reported a subsequent year. Half of the Florida schools have reported less ten incidences over a two year span.
Even though there is a state mandated law, one must remember these laws are civil. They are not criminal laws.Teachers and administrators are still responsible for reporting the bullying incidence and following up. However they are failing to do so mainly because, 'they don't want to get involved."
Therefore with the exception of some of the more proactive School Districts like West Palm Beach it is up to parents to be proactive with their children. Most of the time kids will not confide in their parents if they are being bullied. They are too embarrassed. Unless the child is being physically beaten every day the parent may have no idea that the child is being bullied. Remember bullying can lead to suicide or attempted suicide. Parents must at all times check their child's Internet activity, phone activity and any and all activity that may be suspicious or unusual especially if your child seems a bit depressed. It is obvious from this article that the schools are not reporting the bullying that is happening in the schools.
Bullying is happening in every school. No school is immune to bullying.
On the Federal Law front: The Department of Office of Civil Rights now requires states to identify bullying victims based on Race, Color, National origin, Sex, and Disability to ensure their rights have not been violated.