What are the laws in place?

There are actually no federal laws in place that specifically apply to bullying. However, bullying someone based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or nationality is considered a hate crime. In that case, there are several acts and laws in place.

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964)

  • Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, or color.

• Title IX (1972)

  • Prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.

• The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009)

  • Enhances penalties for hate crimes motivated by race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. It allows federal authorities to intervene if local authorities are unwilling or unable to prosecute.

“Laws and Policies.” Hate Crimes | United States Department of Justice | Hate Crimes, 13 Sept. 2024, www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/laws-and-policies.

New Jersey specifically has some of the strongest anti-bullying and hate crime legislation.

• The New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (2011)

  • Requires schools to adopt anti-bullying policies and provides a clear definition of bullying, which includes harassment, intimidation, or bullying (HIB) based on a wide range of personal characteristics.

  • Schools must investigate incidents, report them, and take steps to prevent further bullying.

• New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD):

  • Strictly prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, and other protected characteristics. It covers employment, housing, and public accommodations.

• The New Jersey Bias Intimidation Statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:16-1):

  • Enhances penalties for crimes motivated by bias. Covers offenses where the perpetrator commits or threatens violence, property damage, or intimidation due to the victim's race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, or national origin.

    Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). “New Jersey Anti-Bullying Laws & Policies.” StopBullying.Gov, 17 May 2023, www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/new-jersey.

The best way to prevent hate and bias is education.

Schools are an ideal environment to counter bias, because they mix children of different backgrounds, place them on equal footing, and allow one-on-one interaction.

Children also are naturally curious about people who are different.

Children are aware of racial and gender differences at a very young age, and by age twelve they have formed stereotypes.

In fact, recent studies show that tolerance education is most effective between the ages of four and nine years. Therefore, it is important to teach tolerance to young children and continue reinforcing the message over time.

Age-appropriateness is involved in the creation of the different curricula that educators have developed. For instance, part of the curriculum includes classroom exercises from newsletters and newspaper sections directed toward younger audiences.

Additional methods include short theatrical productions and role-playing exercises.

What students learn in the classroom needs to be reinforced in other aspects of their lives, which requires parents' involvement. Schools should also recruit community leaders from different groups, races, and ethnicities to teach that tolerance reaches into relationships at home, play, and school.

Teens have a crucial role to play in preventing crime and violence. They have unique talents, valuable ideas, and creative solutions you can use to fight crime in your community.

In order to raise cultural awareness, diversity and tolerance education in school setting, visit tolerance.org to find free resources and more.