Since 2005, the issue of bullying has become so important that 45 of the 50 states have passed laws against it. In 2010, several states have intensified their bullying laws with the passage of legislation that calls for training in the schools. Unfortunately, very few of these laws address the specific issues and needs of children with special needs.

Attorney Judith C. Saltzman practices special education law on behalf of the Ohio-based firm Hickman and Lowder, Co., LPA.  Judith has written many articles on the law and children with special needs and frequently addresses parents and professionals on the issue. She offered parents the following advice on bullying:

Know Your Allies. Parents have a powerful ally in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). In a Letter to Colleagues issued on October 26, 2010, OCR informed all public schools in the U.S. that bullying and harassment, including harassment of one student by another, can be a form of prohibited discrimination. Schools that know about, but fail to stop such harassment, may be in violation of federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender or disability. The OCR letter can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html.  Some school districts have anti-bullying policies, but merely having such a policy does not necessarily fulfill the school district’s responsibility under federal law. Be sure to read the school’s policies.

Organize. Get together with other parents whose children have been bullied, read the OCR letter and ask each other whether the school is meeting OCR’s requirements.  If appropriate, share the experiences and concerns with the school board and request changes. OCR’s letter recognizes that effective prevention may require training, not only for the perpetrators of the harassment, “but, also, for the larger school community to ensure that all students, their families and school staff can recognize harassment if it recurs and know how to respond.” Consider whether measures such as this could be effective in changing the school climate and ask the board of education for the programs, services and protections that will help your children.

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Ask for help from the OCR. One can file a complaint with OCR, including an online form. OCR investigates such complaints, whether or not a lawyer files them for an individual. One can file a complaint about what has happened with an individual child, and, if one so chooses, also explain how other children have been similarly affected (i.e., how the child is representative of a group of children). Parents with similar concerns can file similar complaints. Complaints should be filed promptly – within six months of the incident(s).  For instructions on how to file OCR complaints, see http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.html.

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