Schools that do not take reports of bullying seriously are violating federal anti-discrimination laws, the U.S. Department of Education said in a letter sent to schools nationwide Friday.
The letter was meant to serve as a reminder to school officials of the implications bullying has on students and a school as a whole, according to the Department of Education.
Bullying in school fosters a climate of fear and prevents students from achieving their full potential, said Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights Russlyn Ali in the letter.
While no laws currently protect against harassment based on religion or sexual orientation, bullying violates other anti-discrimination laws, according to a statement from the Department of Education.
Federal laws do include protection against harassment of members of religious groups based on shared ethnic characteristics as well as gender and sexual harassment of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender individuals, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In Wisconsin, there is a set of guidelines for schools to develop an anti-bullying school policy, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
The DPI provides schools a sample of this policy as well as a model curriculum to be taught to children in elementary and middle schools, said Doug White, a DPI spokesperson.
The letter comes in the wake of several highly publicized recent suicides that were allegedly due to bullying and harassment in schools.
One in four high school students, or about 23 percent, report having been bullied on school property in the past 12 months, and 36 percent of male students and 47 percent of female students believe harassment and bullying is a problem in their schools in Wisconsin, according to White.
“If a school has knowledge of harassment, they must take immediate action to investigate the situation, and if a school is aware of a student who has been bullied, they must again take immediate action in preventing this behavior from happening again,” White said.
Schools in Wisconsin have been working to prevent school bullying even before the Department of Education sent out the letter, specifically schools in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Public School district has also been focusing on school bullying, which was the focus on their monthly newsletter in October.
The MPS policy on bullying was updated this summer, before the suicides, and the newsletter explained the new policy, said Roseann St. Aubin, an MPS spokesperson.
The message also encouraged students to report instances of bullying, told parents how schools will follow through on these reports and provided resources to help support their children if they are victims of bullying, said St. Aubin.
MPS reminded staff reports of bullying must be taken seriously and instances of staff taking part in bullying behavior will not be tolerated, St. Aubin said.
“Our district is very much at the forefront of helping children who may become victims of bullying or discrimination,” St. Aubin added.
As a way to prevent bullying, MPS created a special school called Alliance, which serves as landing place for victims of bullying because of their sexual orientation. The school also provides a safe place for children who are bullied for any reason, including religion, ethnicity and disabilities, St. Aubin said.
