School boards have the final decision in any laws or policies that are made for their school. Right now the law states that every school must have a policy for student safety. Since 2001, state legislators are trying to get every school to include a policy against bullying for students. .
Many children who get bullied in school have no voice to be heard. Research shows that a lot of the school shootings that happened in the United States since 1990, have been the result of the perpetrator being bullied in school (Limber and Small). State legislators are fighting everyday with school boards trying to enforce the policy against children getting bullied in school. For example, Georgia legislators require that "each board of education shall adopt policies, applicable to students in grades six through twelve that prohibit bullying of a student by another student" (Limber and Small 449). Most schools also make additional policies for protecting the victim from the perpetrator. This way, the victim can feel safe and protected during school. .
Most schools in the United States have the obligation to report if a child has been bullied. So many children of all ages are taking their own lives because they are victims of getting bullied in school. Bullying affects nearly thirty percent of school-aged youth each month in the United States (Park). State legislators are very concerned with the increase of children getting bullied in schools. The state legislators took a look at the duty to report law that has been around since as early as the thirteenth century (Park). The duty to report is a law that protects helpless victims, mostly protecting children and the elderly from harm. State legislators made a few corrections to the law and added the word bullying. By adding the word bullying to the law, it allows schools to now have the policy where no child should be bullied at school. If a child goes up to any staff, principal, nurse, etc.
