Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children. It involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying can also repeat over time. Some students use their power to control or harm others. Power can include:

• Physical strength,
• Access to embarrassing information, or
• Popularity.

Bullying is any action that:

• Causes a student to fear harm to themselves or their belongings,
• Harms a student's physical or mental health,
• Affects a student's grades,
• Prevents them from participating in class, and
• Affects a student's desire or ability to take part in school activities.

Bullying includes:

• Harassment,
• Threats,
• Intimidation,
• Stalking,
• Physical violence,
• Sexual harassment or sexual violence,
• Theft,
• Embarrassing someone in public,
• Destruction of property, and
• Punishment for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.

Where, when, and how these actions happen determines if they are considered bullying. Schools are required to take action if bullying happens:

• During any school-sponsored education program or activity,
• While in school or on school property,
• On school buses or other school vehicles,
• At school bus stops waiting for the school bus,
• Through the spread of data from a school computer, computer network, or other electronic equipment, or
• Through a non-school computer or electronic device. This applies if the bullying causes a substantial disruption at school.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is also against the law. A cyberbully uses technology or electronic communication to bully someone. This site gives parents and teachers ways to set up rules about digital behavior.

Cyberbullying includes:

• Directly bullying someone through instant messages or internet communications,
• Pretending to be another person on the Internet, and
• Posting information on an electronic platform that more than one person can see.

Stopping bullying at school

It is crucial that schools prevent bullying because:

• Bullying makes a school’s climate and culture harmful and unsafe for everyone,
• Harassment prevents students from focusing on learning, and
• Bullying can harm mental health, I
• t can negatively affect academic performance, and
• It is linked to harmful behaviors by bullies and bullied students.

School districts are required to take action to stop bullying from happening. Some of these steps include:

• Creating rules about bullying,
• Making sure that students and parents/guardians know about the bullying rules,
• Designating specific school employees to deal with bullying issues,
• Giving the contact information for certain school employees to students and parents/guardians,
• Sending the bullying policy to the State Board of Education,
• Reviewing the bullying rules every 2 years and posting them on their website, and
• Increasing student accountability if bullying is based on:
  • Religion,
  • Race, or
  • Ethnicity.

The Illinois State Board of Education is in charge of watching over each school district to make sure they do these things. For information about what schools can do, see this site.

School districts are required to take action to stop bullying as soon as it happens. Some of these actions include:

• Reviewing reports of bullying within 10 days,
• Notifying parents/guardians or students involved in bullying within 24 hours,
• Before using suspension and expulsion, trying to solve the bullying through:
  • School social work or counseling services,
  • Social-emotional learning,
  • School mental health services,
  • Community-based services, and
  • Restorative measures.

Bias-based bullying

Students report that most of the bullying they experience is motivated by bias or discrimination. Bias is the unfair opnion of others based on traits, such as:

• Race,
• Gender, or
• Sexual orientation.

Students say that bad outcomes resulting from bullying increase as the number of personal traits involved increase.

It is against the law to bully anyone based on:

• Race,
• Color,
• Religion,
• Sex,
• National origin,
• Ancestry,
• Physical appearance,
• Socioeconomic status,
• Academic status,
• Pregnancy,
• Parenting status,
• Homelessness,
• Age,
• Marital status,
• Physical or mental disability,
• Military status,
• Dishonorable discharge from the military,
• Sexual orientation,
• Gender-related identity or expression,
• Association with a person or group with one or more of the traits mentioned, and
• Any other distinguishing traits.

Bullying someone based on any of those traits may violate other laws as well. So when bullying happens, school districts should find out if it was bullying based on bias.

By the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, Illinois school districts must post a written policy that says people cannot be discriminated against or harassed based on race, color, or national origin. The policy must have information about how to make a complaint and explain that retaliation for making a complaint is not allowed. School districts also have to share information about legal options through the Illinois Department of Human Rights and federal agencies.

How to report bullying

If you think your child is the victim of bullying, and the school district is not taking action, you can file a complaint. The bullying prevention policies of your area likely list 2 complaint coordinators. You can find your school’s bullying prevention policy in the Board Policy Manual. This is often online, or you can ask your school’s front office staff.  

You can also file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the US Department of Education. Before filling out the complaint form, you should read the information on how the OCR handles bullying complaints. You may also contact OCR at (800) 421‐3481.

Additional Resources

• Equip for Equality
• Illinois Safe Schools Alliance
• Illinois State Board of Education
• Prevent School Violence Illinois
• Stop Bullying